3168

OCS Study
MMS 2000-049
Deepwater Gulf of Mexico

Environmental and Socioeconomic
Data Search and Literature Synthesis
Volume I: Narrative Report
Mississippi Alabama Georgia

Texas
Florida
Deepwater
Environment
U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone
Gulf of Mexico -
Cuba
Yucatan
U.S. DeDartment of the Interior

Minerals Management Service
Gulf of Mexico OCS Region
OCS Study
MMS 2000-049
Deepwater Gulf of Mexico

Environmental and Socioeconomic
Data Search and Literature Synthesis
Author
Continental Shelf Associates, Inc.
Prepared under MMS contract

1435-01 -98-CT-3091 6
by
Continental Shelf Associates, Inc.
759 Parkway Street
Jupiter, Florida 33477-9596
Published by
U.S. Department of the Interior

Minerals Management Service New Orleans
Gulf of Mexico OCS Region July 2000
Disclaimer
This report was prepared under contract between the Minerals Management Service
(MMS) and Continental Shelf Associates, Inc. This report has been technically reviewed
by the MMS, and has been approved for publication. Approval does not signifr that the
contents necessarily reflect the views and policies of the MMS, nor does mention of trade
names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. It is,
however, exempt from review and compliance with the MMS editorial standards.
Report Availability
Extra copies of this report may be obtained from the Public Information Office at the
following address:
U.S. Department of the Interior

Minerals Management Service
Gulf of Mexico OCS Region
Public Information Office (MS 5034)
1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard
New Orleans, LA 70 123-2394
Telephone: (504) 736-2519 or

1 -800-200GULF
Suggested Citation
Continental Shelf Associates, Inc. 2000. Deepwater Gulf of Mexico Environmental and
Socioeconomic Data Search and Literature Synthesis. Volume I: Narrative
Report. U.S. Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, Gulf of
Mexico OCS Region, New Orleans, LA. OCS Study MMS 2000-049. 340 pp.
111
Acknowledgments
This synthesis report was prepared by Continental Shelf Associates, Inc. (CSA) with the
assistance of technical experts (primarily from Texas A&M University) serving as
independent consultants. The CSA Program Manager was David A. Gettleson and the
report editor was Neal W. Phillips. The Annotated Bibliography was compiled by David
B. Snyder with the assistance of Kristen L. Metzger and Marilyn Morris, librarians at
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution Inc. Melody B. Powell was the technical
editor. Suzanne R. Short prepared the final graphics and Deborah V. Raffel was
responsible for word processing. Clerical support was provided by Deborah M. Cannon,
Karen I. Stokesbury, and Caroline M. Simpson.
CSA especially wants to acknowledge the chapter authors for their excellent
contributions to this report:
E.G. Ward1 Deepwater Technology
William R. Bryant1 and Jia Y. Liu' Geology
Worth D. Nowlin', Ann E. Jochens', Steven F. DiMarco',

and Robert 0. Reid1 Physical Oceanography
Mahion C. Kennicutt II' Chemical Oceanography
Douglas C. Biggs' and Patrick H. Ressler' Water Column Biology
Gilbert T. Rowe' Non-Seep Benthos
Ian R. MacDonald1 Seep Communities
Stephen T. Viada2 Protected Species
David B. Snyder2 Fishes and Fisheries
Linda A. Tobin3 Socioeconomics
'Texas A&M University

2Continental Shelf Associates, Inc.
3lndependent consultant
V
Contents

Page
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Background
Objectives 1
Methods 2
Report Organization 2
Literature Cited 4
Chapter 2: Deepwater Technology 5

Introduction
Shallow Water Production from Fixed Platforms 5
Deepwater Production to Date 6
Deepwater Development Activities to Date 7
Deepwater Production Systems 7
Floating Production Systems 9
Subsea Production Systems 14
Transportation Systems 15
Future Deepwater Development Activities 16
Future Deepwater Production 16
Floating Production Structures 16
Sub sea Production Systems 18
Future Technology Challenges 20
Literature Cited 21
Chapter 3: Geology 25
Basin Histoty 25
Study History 26
Seafloor Morphology 26
Structures 29
Salt 29
Faulting within the Continental Slope 36
Sedimentation in the Northern Gulf of Mexico 37
Sediment Sources and Drainage Patterns 38
Depocenters 40
Continental Slope Basins 42
Salt Induced Physiography of the Upper and Middle Continental Slope 43
Salt Induced Physiography of the Lower Continental Slope 46
Geohazards 49
Literature Cited 54
vii
Contents
(continued)
Page
Chapter 4: Physical Oceanography 61

Introduction 61
Classical Hydrography 64
Low-Frequency, Local Wind Forcing 72
Surface Wind Waves 74
Forcing By Energetic, Episodic Wind Events 77
Loop Current Forcing and Eddy Activity 85
Sea Level and Tides 96
Currents in Deep Water 98
Deep, Barotropic Currents 99
High-speed, Subsurfaceintensified Currents 102
Currents Responsible for Furrows 102
Effects of Shelf/Slope Canyons and Other Rough Topography 106
Numerical Modeling 107
Types of Models and Studies 107
Eddy Shedding Aspects 110
Other Skill Assessment 111
Status of Nowcast/Forecasts 112
Literature Cited 113
Chapter 5: Chemical Oceanography 123

Introduction 123
Dissolved Gases 124
Dissolved Solids 125
Nutrients 125
Dissolved Organic Matter 127
Dissolved Metals 129
Particulate Matter 130
Particulate Organic Matter 131
Particulate Inorganic Matter 132
The Chemistry of Natural Seepage 133
Brine Seepage 133
Hydrocarbon Seepage 134
Conclusions 135
Contents
(continued)
Page
Chapter 6: Water Column Biology 141

Prirnaiy Productivity and Chlorophyll Standing Stocks 141
Introduction 141
Mean Condition 142
Seasonal Changes 145
Deepwater "Hot Spots" from Entrainment of Freshwater 145
Deepwater "Hot Spots" from Cross Isopycnal Mixing 146
Deepwater "Hot Spots" from Mesoscale Divergence 153
Deepwater Zooplankton, Micronekton, and Ichthyoplankton 154
Introduction 154
The Available Database 155
Previous Reviews 155
Ecology, Biology, and Systematics Studies 159
Biornass and Abundance 160
Spatial and Temporal Variability 164
Acoustic Sampling of Zooplankton and Micronekton Biomass 166
Optical Sampling of Zooplankton and Micronekton Biornass 167
A Combined Approach to Biomass Surveys 167
Appendix 6A: Deepwater Water Column Biology 181
Chapter 7: Non-Seep Benthos 189

Introduction 189
Community Description 193
Microbiota 193
Meiofauna 193
Macrofauna 193
Megafauna 197
Motile Scavengers 199
Community Metabolism 199
Community Function - The Cycling of Organic Carbon 199
Comparison of the Gulf Benthos with Other Oceans 202
Conclusions 203
ix
Contents
(continued)
Page
Chapter 8: Seep Communities 209

Introduction 209
Background Biology 210
Microbiology of Chemosynthesis 210
Symbiosis with Invertebrates 210
Discoveries of Chemosynthetic Communities 211
Hydrothermal Vents 211
The Florida Escarpment 211
The Northern Gulf ofMexico Continental Slope 211
The Gulf of Mexico Seep Fauna 212
Vestimentiferan Tube Worms 212
Seep Mussels 214
Vesicomyid Clams 216
Lucinid Clams 216
Polychaete "Ice Worms" 216
Beggiatoa Mats and Other Protozoans 218
Heterotrophic Fauna 218
Types of Seep Communities in the Northern Gulf of Mexico 219
Bush Hill 220
Brine Pool NR1 221
Garden Banks 386 221
Alaminos Canyon 222
Distribution of Seep Communities in the Northern Gulf of Mexico 222
Chapter 9: Protected Species 231

Introduction 231
Cetaceans 232
Listed Species Accounts 232
Nonlisted Species Accounts 235
Distribution and Abundance in the Oceanic Northern Gulf of Mexico 238
Sea Turtles 243
Species Accounts 244
Sensitivity to Oil and Gas Exploration and Development 247
x
Contents
(continued)
Page
Chapter 10: Fishes and Fisheries 255

Deepwater Fishes 255
Introduction 255
History of Deepwater Fish Sampling in the Gulf of Mexico 257
Epipelagic Fishes 258
Mesopelagic Fishes 260
Bathypelagic Fishes 264
Demersal Fishes 264
Interactions among Fishes of Different Assemblages 270
Deepwater Fisheries 270
Introduction 270
History of Deepwater Fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico 271
Key Species 272
Fishing Gear Types 272
Landings Trends 275
Chapter 11: Socioeconomics 285

Introduction 285
The Importance of Time and Space 286
History of Oil and Gas Development in the Gulf Coast States from 1900s Forward 287
A Natural Extension of Growth 290
The Past Thirty Years 292
Socioeconomic Effects of Oil and Gas Activity across Space 293
Community Impacts 294
Port Development 297
Impact of Oil and Gas Development on the Organization of Work 298
Labor Markets 298
Industrial and Business Linkages 300
Industrial Restructuring 301
Relationships to Physical Environment 302
Agriculture 303
Recreational Uses of the Coast and Oil 303
Industrial Development and Infrastructure 304
Port Fourchon 306
Oil Spills and Flazardous Waste 307
Impacts on Families and Individuals 308
Oil and Louisiana Cajuns 309
Economic Impacts on Individuals and Families 310
Social Problems 312
Concentrated Work Scheduling 312
Impacts of Oil on Education, Migration, and Population 313
Conclusions 3 14
xi
Contents
(continued)
Page
Chapter 12: Synthesis 321

Introduction 321
Operational Contrasts aid Implications 325
High Production Rates 325
Shift in Types of Structures 325
Changes in Drilling and Production 326
Transportation Challenges 327
Socioeconomic Implications 327
Environmental Contrasts and Implications 328
Physical/Chemcial Environment 328
Water Column Ecosystems 330
Benthic Ecosystems 333
Data Gaps and Information Needs 334
Deepwater Teclrnology 334
Geology 334
Physical Oceanography 335
Chemical Oceanography 336
Water Column Biology 336
Benthic Communities 337
Protected Species 337
Fishes and Fisheries 338
Socioeconornics 338
Volume II: Annotated Bibliography
Preface 1
Annotated Bibliography 3
xii
Figures
Figure Page
1.1 Deepwater study area 3
2.1 Deepwater production in the Gulf of Mexico (thousands of barrels

oil equivalent per day, MBOEPD) 6
2.2 Deepwater production systems in the Gulf of Mexico 7
2.3 Schematic showing major components of a TLP 12
2.4 Schematic showing major components of a spar 12
2.5 Subsea production system configuration 14
2.6 Subsea production system components 14
2.7 Schematic of tanker-based FPSO offloading to a shuttle tanker 18
3.1 Bathymetric map of the northern Gulf of Mexico deepwater area 27
3.2 Salt and fault distributions in the northern Gulf of Mexico (Adapted
from: Diegel et al. 1995) 30
3.3 Major salt basins in the northern Gulf of Mexico (Adapted from:
Simmons 1992) 33
3.4 Seismic line across the lower continental slope (Adapted from:
Simmons 1992) 34
3.5 Seismic line across the Sigsbee Escarpment (Adapted from:

Diegel et al. 1995) 35
3.6 Bathymetry derived drainage patterns in the northern Gulf of Mexico

deepwater environment 39
3.7 The location of depocenters through Cenozoic in the northern Gulf

of Mexico (Adapted from: Woodbury et al. 1973) 41
3.8 Seismic line across the Pigmy Basin (Adapted from: Simmons 1992). 44
3.9 Bathymetric contour map of the Pigmy Basin 45
3.10 Perspective view of the seafloor relief of the middle and lower
continental slope, northern Gulf of Mexico 47
Figures
(continued)
Figure Page
3.11 Bathymetric contour map of the Vaca Basin 48
4.1 Geopotential anomaly (dynamic rn) of the sea surface relative to the
1,000-db surface, constructed from Hidalgo 62-H-3 data collected
February-March 1962 62
4.2 Temperature vs. salinity, temperature vs. depth, and salinity vs.
depth based on all data collected during Hidalgo cruise 62-H-3,
February-March 1962 69
4.3 Temperature vs. salinity, temperature vs. depth, and salinity vs.
depth for two stations made in early May 1993 over the continental
slope off Texas 70
4.4 Annual time series of monthly averaged temperatures at six depths

for four regions in the northern Gulf of Mexico (From: Robinson
1973) 71
4.5 Contours of mean dynamic height (dyn cm) of surface relative to

450 db, constructed by averaging the first empirical orthogonal
modes (EOF) obtained from an EOF analysis of the geopotential
anomaly for 13 cruises covering the area (From: Vázquez 1993) 73
4.6 Horizontal current vectors (hourly values from 3-hr low-passed

records) during late August 1992 from two locations off Louisiana at
approximately 90.5°W on the shelf edge and upper slope 78
4.7 Locations of current measurements or model output used in figures

within this review 79
4.8 Components (u positive to the east and v positive to the north) of

hourly currents measured at indicated depths on moorings S
(26°N, 96° lOW) and C (55 km north of S) 81
4.9 Eastward (u) and northward (v) components of currents (hourly

values from 3-hr low-passed records) from moorings located off
Louisiana at approximately 90.5°W 83
4.10 Eastward (u) and northward (v) components of currents from 3- to

40-hr band-passed records made in July and December 1992 at
mooring 10 located off Louisiana at 27.94°N, 92.75°W in water
depth of 200m 84
xiv
Figures
(continued)
Figure Page
4.11 (a) An example of the development of an intrusion of the Loop

Current into the eastern Gulf of Mexico is schematically depicted
with contours of the 22°C isotherm at 1 00-rn depth from
hydrographic cruises conducted in August 1972 through September
1973 (Adapted from: MauI 1977). (b) Frequency of occurrence (%)
of warm Loop Current water in the eastern Gulf of Mexico from
monthly frontal analyses of AVHRR data from 1976 through 1985
(Adapted from: Science Applications International Corporation
1989) 87
4.12 GEK surface current observations (left) and surface dynamic

topography relative to 1,350 db (right) from Alarninos cruise 67A4
in June 1967 (Adapted from: Nowlin and Hubertz 1972) 88
4.13 Sea surface height anomaly (cm) from satellite altimeter data for
9 May 1993 90
4.14 Components of velocity (cIms') normal to a section extending from

approximately 27.4°N, 90.6°W (station 64) to 24.8°N, 89.4°W
(station 78) 91
4.15 Components (u positive to the east and v positive to the north) of

40hr, low-passed currents measured at indicated depths on moorings
S (26N, 96°1OTW) and C (55 km north of S) 93
4.16 Horizontal current vectors (hourly values from 3-hr low-passed

records) from moorings located approximately equidistant along the
200-rn isobath at the edge of the Texas continental shelf 95
4.17 Schematic showing design currents in deepwater Gulf of Mexico for

three classes of phenomena: topographic Rossby waves, Loop
Current eddies, and subsurface-intensified, high-speed jets (shown
by grey domain) 100
4.18 Current vectors (40-hr low-passed; north directed upward) from

Science Applications International Corporation mooring G located in
3,200 m water depth at 25°36.21N, 85°29.8TW off the southern West
Florida Shelf 101
4.19 Average current profiles before (thin line), during (thick line), and
after (dashed line) a subsurface jet event in Mississippi Canyon (data
courtesy of Chevron) 103
xv
Figures
(continued)
Figure Page
4.20 Acoustic Doppler current profiler current speed in Green Canyon

Block 200 from 29 April through 30 April 1994, showing 50 cims
current event propagating upwards in the water column beginning
about 30 April 104
4.21 Time series of vertical profiles of current speeds from the Kantha
model 105
6.1 Deepwater locations of recent measurements of primary production,

1987-1997, on oceaiographic cruises by Texas A&M University
(TAMU) and the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
(TJNAM) 144
6.2 A: Dynamic topography (cm, 0 m relative to 800 m) of the

deepwater GulfCet H focal area, as determined from 107
hydrographic stations made on R/V Gyre cruise 97G08. B: Gridded
upper layer geostrophic velocity (0 m relative to 800 m) computed
from the dynamic topography data in A. C: Sea surface salinity map,
superimposed on ship track lines of 97G08. D: Sea surface
chlorophyll map, superimposed on ship track lines 147
6.3 Top panel: Sea surface height anomaly for water depths >200 m
from satellite altimeter data for the NEGOM study area for 29 July
1998 (hindcast data). Middle panel: Salinity at 3 ii' from
thermosalinograph observations on NEGOM cruise N3, 26 July -
6 August 1998. Bottom panel: Chlorophyll (igm3) at -3 m
calculated from flow-through fluorescence on NEGOM cruise N3 148
6.4 SeaWiFS ocean color image for 16 January 1998, processed by the
Department of Marine Science, University of South Florida. 149
6.5 Top panel: Cruise track and station locations for LATEX
hydrographic survey 1105, April-May 1993. Bottom panel: Vertical
contours of bottle nitrate (imolL') along 200-m isobath during
cruise H05 150
6.6 Primary productivity (g Cm2d1) of the LATEX continental margin

in May, August, and November of 1993 and 1994 (From: Gonzalez-
Rodas 1999) 151
6.7 Top panel: Deepwater locations of SEAMAP plankton surveys,

1982-1998. Bottom panel: Deepwater locations of plankton
collection stations (excluding SEAMAP), 1958-1999 163
xvi
Figures
(continued)
Figure Page
6.8 Grayscale running plot of S.. collected with an ADCP along a

northsouth transect line from the deepwater off the Mississippi
River, through a cyclone, and into a Loop Current Eddy (LCE-C)
during October 1996 (Adapted from: Wormuth et al. 1999) 168
7.1 Station locations for the MMS-supported Northern Gulf of Mexico

Continental Slope NGOCMS) Study conducted by LGL
Environmental (Gallaway 1988) 192
7.2 Density of macrofauna in the Gulf of Mexico (From: Rowe et al.

1974) 195
7.3 Biomass of the macrofauna in the Gulf of Mexico (From: Rowe et al.
1974) 195
7.4 Comparison of polychaete densities at two different time periods on

the upper slope of the northern Gulf of Mexico (Adapted from:
Hubbard 1995) 198
7.5 Preliminary carbon flow model for the deepsea benthos of the
northern Gulf of Mexico (From: Rowe et l. 2000) 200
8.1 Photographs taken with vertically-mounted 35 mm camera (Figure 3

from MacDonald etal. 1989) 213
8.2 Bathyn2odiolus heckerae, B. broolcsi, B. childressi, Tanmfisheri, Idas

macdonaldi (Figure 11 from Gustafson et a!, 1998) 215
8.3 Photographs of the two types of trails observed in the aggregations of

vesicornyids (Figure 3 from Rosman et al. 1987) 217
9.1 U.S. oceanic northern Gulf of Mexico as defined in the GulfCet II

study (Davis et al. 2000) 239
9.2 Minimum abundance estimates for species sighted within oceanic

waters during two survey periods (From: Davis et al. 2000) 241
10.1 Diagram of the environmental framework used to describe deepwater

fishes of the Gulf of Mexico (Adapted from: Helfman et al. 1997) 256
10.2 Opposing views of expected megafaunal zonation that might be

observed on the Gulf ofMexico continental slope (From: Gallaway
etal. 1988) 269
xvii
Figures
(continued)
Figure Page
10.3 Monthly lengths (a) and numbers (b) of surface longline sets made in
the Gulf ofMexico from 1994 to 1998 273
10.4 Spatial distribution of surface longline sets made in the Gulf of

Mexico during 1998 (From: NMFS 1999c) 274
Tables
Table Page
2.1 Production systems for current deepwater projects in the Gulf of Mexico 8
3.1 Engineering constraints and possible geohazards of intraslope basins

and canyons 53
4.1 Water masses of the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico 66
4.2 Location, water depth, and period of records, used for computations
given in Table 4.3, for marine buoys in the Gtilf of Mexico 74
4.3 Monthly and annual mean significant wave height (m) and extremes
based on hourly observations from marine buoys (data from the
National Buoy Data Center) 75
4.4 Loop Current eddy properties 92
4.5 Summary of volume computations and mean response of water level

(Reid and Whitaker 1981) and observed tidal constituents measured at a
deep pelagic site located at 24.767°N, 89.648°W by Mofjeld and
Wimbtish (1977) 97
4.6 Percent of observed variance in sea level attributed to various forcing

factors by the model (Reid and Whitaker 1981) 97
4.7 Comparison of relevant properties of several ocean circulation models

applied to the Gulf of Mexico 109
6.1 Previous reviews of the zooplankton, micronekton, and ichthyoplankton

of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) 156
6.2 Estimates of plankton standing stock in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico

(GOM) (bulk biornass as mL wet displacement volume per 100 m3) 161
7.1 Standing stocks of various size categories of benthic biota on the

northern Sigsbee Abyssal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico 194
8.1 Summary of taxonomic designations of seep mussels from the northern

Gulf of Mexico taken from original descriptions of Gustafson et al.
(1998) 214
xix
Tables
(continued)
Table Page
8.2 Sites where chemosynthetic megafauna have been collected by trawl

(Tn) or submarine (Sub), or definitively photographed by submarine,
remotely operated vehicle (ROy), or photosled (Photosl) 223
9.1 Cetaceans of the Gulf of Mexico 233
9.2 Sea turtles of the Gulf of Mexico 244
10.1 Orders and families of epipelagic (0 to 200 m) fishes known from the
Gulf of Mexico, arranged in phylogenetic order 259
10.2 Orders and families of mesopelagic and bathypelagic fishes known from
the Gulf of Mexico, arranged in phylogenetic order (following
McEachran and Fechhelm 1998) 261
10.3 Deepwater (>200 in) demersal fishes known from the Gulf of Mexico,
arranged in phylogenetic order 265
10.4 Comparison of most abundant species of fish between the Galiaway et al.
(1988) and Pequegnat (1983) studies 266
10.5 Weight (metric tons) of deepwater species landed in Gulf coastal states
in 1998 (From: National Marine Fisheries Service 1999b) 276
10.6 Value (dollars) of deepwater species landed in Gulf coastal states in 1998
(From: National Marine Fisheries Service 1999b) 277
12.1 Operational and environmental contrasts between deepwater and shelf

settings, and their implications 323
xx
Acronyms and Abbreviations
ADCP acoustic Doppler current profiler

AXBT air-dropped expendable bathythermograph
bbl ban-el
I3GN Board of Geographic Names
BOPD barrels of oil per day
BT bathythermograph
CASE Consortium for Analysis Studies of Eddies
CTD conductivity, temperature, depth
CZCS coastal zone color scanner
DCM deep chlorophyll maximum
DOC dissolved organic carbon
DOM dissolved organic matter
DSDP Deep Sea Drilling Program
EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone
EJIP Eddy Joint Industry Program
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
FAD fish attracting device
FPSO floating production system with storage and offloading
GMFMC Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council
GUM Gulf of Mexico
lAS Intra-Americas Sea
IES inverted echo sounder
IKMT Tsaacs-Kidd Midwater Trawl
LATEX TexasLouisiana Shelf Circulation and Transport Processes Study
LC Loop Current
LCE Loop Current eddy
LNG liquefied natural gas
LOOP Louisiana Offshore Oil Port
MBOPD thousand barrels of oil per day
MMBOE million barrels oil equivalent
MMS Minerals Management Service
MMSCFPD million standard cubic feet per day
MOCNESS Multiple Opening/Closing Net Environmental Sensing System
MODUs mobile offshore drilling units
NECOP nutrient enriched coastal ocean productivity
NGOMCS Northern Gulf of Mexico Continental Slope
NMFS National Marine Fisheries Service
NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NOS National Ocean Service
NPZ nutrients-phytoplankton-zooplankton
OCS outer continental shelf
OPEC Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
PAH polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon
xxi
Acronyms and Abbreviations
(continued)
POC particulate organic carbon
POM Princeton Ocean Model
ROV remotely operated vehicle
RQ respiratory quotient
SAIC Science Applications International Corporation
SSHA sea surface height anomaly
SST sea surface temperature
TABS Texas Automated Buoy System
TLP tension leg platform
TLWP tension leg work platform
TSM total suspended matter
UNAM Universidad Nacional Autonomia de Mexico
USFWS U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
VLH volatile liquid hydrocarbons
VOC volatile organic compounds
VPR video plankton recorder
WDV wet displacement volume
XBT expendable bathythermograph
XCP expendable current profiler
XCTD expendable current-temperature-depth
Chapter 1: Introduction
Background
Recent years have seen a great increase in oil and gas industry interest in the deepwater
Gulf of Mexico. Contributing factors have included significant hydrocarbon discoveries,
passage of the Deepwater Royalty Relief Act, the availability of infrastructure, arid the
emergence of innovative technologies to find, develop, and produce oil and gas in the
deepwater environment (Cranswick and Regg 1997). This deepwater development poses
a number of environmental, socioeconomic, and technological issues. Some are new, and
others are similar to those associated with oil and gas activities on the shelf. However, as
Carney (1998) noted, "deepwater oil and gas development is a reality at the same time
that deepwater environmental research is at a low."
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) is the primary Federal agency responsible for
ensuring that oil and gas related activities on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) are
conducted in a safe and clean manner. The MMS has a strong environmental mandate
and conducts an Environmental Studies Program to obtain information for regulatory and
leasing decisions (MMS 1999). As part of that program, an MMS-sponsored "Workshop
on Environmental Issues Surrounding Deepwater Oil and Gas Development" was held in
1997. Workshop participants identified synthesis of existing environmental and
socioeconomic data as an important priority (Carney 1998).
This synthesis report addresses the need for a comprehensive search and integration of
environmental and socioeconomic data for the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. As such, it is
one of several ongoing and planned MMS studies pertinent to deepwater oil and gas
activities. These include two other "desktop" studiesa reanalysis and synthesis of
deepwater physical oceanographic data and a literature review of environmental risks of
chemical products used in deepwater operationsas well as new field studies of the
continental slope benthos, synthetic drilling fluids, and benthic effects at selected
continental slope sites.
Objectives
The general purpose of this program was to gather environmental and socioeconomic
information related to the deepwater environment, in order to
describe the ecosystem;
understand the environmental processes that drive the system; and
understand processes potentially sensitive to anthropogenic activities, particuiarly oil
and gas operations.
1
Introduction
For the purposes of this program, the deepwater environment is defined geographically as
extending from a depth of 305 m (1,000 fi) to the border of the U.S. Exclusive Economic
Zone (Figure 1.1). This includes the deepwater portion of all three Gulf of Mexico OCS
planning areas (Western, Central, and Eastern).
Specific objectives were to develop (1) a synthesis report that summarizes available
information by topic and synthesizes it in a framework to describe the deepwater Gulf
ecosystem, dominant environmental processes, biologically sensitive pathways, and
socioeconomic activities in the area; and (2) a computer-searchable database (annotated
bibliography) incorporating existing literature, relevant data, and ongoing research
pertaining to geological, physical, chemical, and biological processes of the study area,
social and economic data and literature, and deepwater teclmology.
Methods
The synthesis effort was organized by discipline, with specialists in each discipline
serving as chapter authors. Computer searches were conducted using the DIALOG
information retrieval system to identifr published literature, unpublished reports, data
sets, and ongoing or planned studies. Chapter authors helped to select databases and
keywords for the searches. Preliminary bibliographies were circulated to the authors,
each of whom was familiar with the literature in their respective area of expertise.
Additional references were provided by the chapter authors to complete the bibliographic
listing. Subsequently, annotations were downloaded using DIALOG and imported into
Pro-Cite, a bibliographic computer program. Further details on the annotated
bibliography are provided in Volume II.
After the completion of the computer searches, a synthesis plaiming meeting was held
during April 1999. Chapter authors presented preliminary overviews of their respective
topic areas, and discussed approaches for producing the synthesis report.
Report Organization
The report is divided into chapters for the following topic areas:
2-Deepwater Technology 7-Non-Seep Benthos

3-Geology 8-Seep Communities
4-Physical Oceanography 9-Protected Species
5-Chemical Oceanography 10-Fishes and Fisheries
6Water Column biology 1 1-Socioeconomics
2
I . I I
88° 86° 84° 820
l$SIS$!I Alabama Georgia
Louisiana
Florida
w-er
vironment
U. S. Exclusive Economic Zone
Gulf of Mexico
o 25 50 75 100 NAUTICAL MILES
o 50 100 150 200 KELOMETERS
Figure 11. Deepwater study area.

Introduction
A final Synthesis Chapter draws together infonnation from preceding chapters to identify
significant findings, key issues associated with oil and gas related activities in the
deepwater environment, and critical information needs.
A table of contents is provided at the beginning of each chapter to orient the reader.
References cited in each chapter are listed at the end of that chapter. The Annotated
Bibliography, provided as a separate Volume II, includes both references cited in the
report and other relevant citations.
Literature Cited
Carney, R.S. 1998. Workshop on environmental issues surrounding deepwater oil and gas
development: Final report. OCS Study MMS 98-0022. U.S. Department of the Interior,
Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, New Orleans, LA. 163 pp.
Cranswick, D. and J. Regg. 1997. Deepwater in the Gulf of Mexico: America's new frontier.
OCS Study MMS 97-0004. U.S. Department of the Interior, Minerals Management
Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, New Orleans, LA. 43 pp.
Minerals Management Service. 1999. Environmental Studies Program website.
http://www.mms.gov/eppd/studies/index.htm.
4
Chapter 2: Deepwater Technology
E. G. Ward
Introduction 5
Shallow Water Production from Fixed Platforms 5
Deepwater Production to Date 6
Deepwater Development Activities to Date 7
Deepwater Production Systems 7
Floating Production Systems 9
Future Deepwater Development Activities 16
Future Deepwater Production 16
Floating Production Structures 16
Future Technology Challenges 20
Literature Cited 20
Introduction
In many respects, offshore oil and gas production has its roots in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil
and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico started in 1947 in about 5 m water depth.
Much of the technology and experience developed for the Gulf established standards and
practices for subsequent offshore oil and gas developments throughout the world.
Shaflow Water Production from Fixed Platforms

The first offshore platform was installed in the Gulf in 1947 in about 5 m of water. There
has been a steady march toward ever-increasing depths since that time. In the 1960's,
depths had just exceeded 100 m. In 1978, the Cognac platform was installed in 300 m.
The Bullwinkle platform was installed in 413 m of water in 1989, and is the deepest fixed
platform. During this 40-year span, some 7,000 platforms have been installed and have
served the industry and public well in providing a reliable and economical means of
developing and producing oil and gas. About 4,000 platforms are currently in place and
producing.
Exploratoiy drilling precedes the installation of a production platform. Mobile Offshore

Drilling Units (MODUs) are used to drill exploratory wells. Following a discovery of
hydrocarbons, one or more delineation wells may be drilled to confirm the commercial
significance of the discovery. A production platform is installed once a discovery is
judged to be commercially viable.
The function of these platforms is to provide a workspace that can be used to support the
development drilling of production wells and production equipment. A drilling rig on the
platform is used to drill and complete the production wells. The well system and drilling
operations are functionally similar to that used onshore. A number of wells are drilled
from each platform. Flow rates for wells completed in reservoirs typical of shallow water
locations have typically been in the range of up to 2,500 barrels of oil per day (BOPD).
5
Ward: Dee pwater Technology
The production equipment separates the produced oil, gas, arid water, and the oil and gas
are transported to shore through separate pipelines laid on the seafloor. Unboard pumps
and compressors provide the necessary.energy to transport the oil and gas to shore. The
produced water is passed through an oil-water separator and discharged into the ocean.
These bottom-founded platforms are fixed to the seafloor by a foundation consisting of
pilings driven deep into the ocean floor. The decks upon which the equipment is placed
are located at an elevation high enough above sea level to avoid being inundated by
severe waves. The strength of the platform arid its pile foundation are designed to resist
the lateral forces and overturning moments caused by severe hurricane waves, currents,
and winds. These platforms tend to be quite stiff and the response to loads is mostly
static.
Deepwater Production to Date

As reservoirs have been discovered and produced in shallower waters, the search for new
hydrocarbon reserves has turned to ever-increasing depths. For the purposes of this
report, we will adopt a depth of 305 m (1,000 ft) as the delineation between "deep" and
"shallow" water. Lease sales in the 1980's began to focus on deepwater acreage, and
exploration drilling soon followed. Discoveries were made, but development activities
lagged a bit due to the downturn in oil prices in the mid-l980's and the time to develop
and implement the technology needed to produce oil and gas in water depths of several
thousand feet.
Deepwater discoveries and production have increased very rapidly during the 1990's as
shown in the following Figure 2.1. Production statistics are shown for 1994-1998
(Congdon and Fagot 1999). The production rate shown for 1999 is an extrapolation, but
agrees with an earlier estimate (Morrison 1997). The estimated 1999 production
represents a five-fold increase in 5 years.
1000
+
900 -
800 -
700 -
600 -
w 500 -
0
400 -
300 -
200
100 -
0
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Figure 2.1. Deepwater production in the Gulf of Mexico (thousands of

barrels oil equivalent per day, MBOEPD).
6
Ward: Deepwater Technology
Deepwater Development Activities to Date

Deepwater oil and gas development has evolved and built upon the tecimology and
operational experience that have been successfully employed in shallower waters in the
Gulf of Mexico. Production systems have now been installed in water depths
approaching 1,500 m. Lessons learned include the following:
Large, productive reservoirs exist in the Gulf. A well at Ursa recently produced over
50,000 BOPD (Smith 1999). Such daily production rates in the Gulf were unheard of
a few years ago arid are due to the characteristics of deepwater reservoirs and large
advances in well technology. The largest estimated reserves are 1,000 million barrels
oil equivalent (MMBOE) for a prospect named Crazy Horse in about 1,800 m depth
(DeLuca 1999b).
The industry has proved that it can develop reserves in a safe, environmentally sound,
and an economic manner in depths approaching 1,800 m.
In the following section, we will discuss the teelmology involved in these developments
and its implementation.
Deepwater Production Systems
A number of different systems have been developed for deepwater production. These
include bottom-founded structures (fixed platforms and compliant towers), floating
systems (tension leg platforms [TLPs], spars, semisubmersibles), and subsea systems.
These systems are shown in Figure 2.2 (Cranswick and Regg 1997). The systems
installed on specific projects and the water depths are listed in Table 2.1 (Cranswick and
Regg 1997; Offshore Magazine, various articles 1997-1999).
Subsea System Fixed

(300-2,150 m) Platform
(to 500 m)
Compliant
Tower
(500-900m)
Semisubmersible-Based
Floating Production
Tension Leg Spar
System
(500 1,200 m)
PlatForm (600-3,000 m)
(500-2,150 m)
Figure 2.2. Deepwater production systems in the Gulf of Mexico.
7
Table 2.1. Production systems for current deepwater projects in the Gulf of Mexico
Project Water Depth (m) Production System Type First Production

Baldpate 611 Compliant Tower 1998
Petronius 536 Compliant Tower 2000
Amberjack 315 Fixed platform 1991
Bullwinkle 414 Fixed platform 1989
Cognac 313 Fixed platform 1979
Pompano I 394 Fixed platform 1994
Lena 311 GuyedTower 1983
Cooper 670 Semisubmersible 1995
Genesis 794 Spar 1999
Hoover 1,468 Spar (w/Diana) 2000
King 1,005 Subsea 2000
Oyster 367 Subsea 1997
Shasta 3 18 Subsea 1995
Tahoe 459 Subsea 1994
Tahoe II 459 Subsea 1996
VK862 319 Subsea 1995
Zinc 452 Subsea 1993
Popeye 612 Subsea (shelf) 1996
Macaroni 1,101 Subsea (Auger) 1999
Angus 612 Subsea (Bullwinkle) 1999
Rocky 546 Subsea (Buliwinkle) 1997
Troika 832 Subsea (Buliwinkle) 1998
Diana 1,346 Subsea (Hoover) 2000
Europa 1,189 Subsea (Mars) 2000
Pompano II 570 Subsea (Pompano 1) 1995
Mensa 1,644 Subsea (shelf) 1997
Auger 875 TLP 1994
Brutus 880 TLP 2001
Jolliet 526 TLP 1989
Marlin 990 TLP 1999
Mars 899 TLP 1996
Ram-Powell 995 TLP 1997
Ursa 1,230 TLP 1999
Allegheny 974 TLP (Seastar) 1999
Morpeth 498 TLP (Seastar) 1998
8
Fixed platforms have been installed in depths to 413 rn. While it is technically feasible to
extend the fixed platform concept to the 500 to 750 m water depth range, the large capital
costs for these platforms result in projects that are not economically feasible. The
compliant tower, another bottom-founded structure that has some similarities to a fixed
platform, has also been developed and implemented. Compliant towers can be a Cost
effective alternative in water depths in the range of 500 to 750 m. However, the number
of applications appears to be limited by the limited acreage in the Gulf in this water depth
range. Because of these water depth limitations, the major emphases have been on
various floating production systems and subsea production systems. Floating production
systems and subsea systems have ushered in the development of deepwater production in
the Gulf. Floating production systems in the Gulf include TLPs, spars, and
sernisubmersibles. These systems provided the flexibility of being cost effective over the
range of water depths being developed in the 1990's, and can be extended to even deeper
water. We will next review the deepwater technology that has been developed and
implemented to date.
Floating Production Systems

General Attributes of Floating Systems
Floating production systems generally have a number of functionally similar components

or elements. Major components include the hull, deck, topside equipment, well system,
mooring system, and transportation system for the produced oil and gas. These are
described below to provide a context for understanding, comparing, and contrasting the
specific systems.
Hull and Deck. The hull provides the necessary buoyancy to support deck, topsides,
mooring system, and well risers. The deck (actually several stacked or multilevel decks)
sits atop the hull and supports the topsides, drilling equipment (if any), and personnel
quarters.
Topsides. The topsides includes production facilities and equipment to separate produced
oil, gas, and water; water treatment facilities to clean the produced water so that it can be
discharged overboard; and control and safety systems to monitor, control, and meter
production. The topsides also include power generation equipment and the pumping and
compression equipment needed to send the production to shore. The topsides may also
include drilling equipment. For floating production systems without drilling equipment,
wells are pre-drilled by MODUs, and MODUs are required to return for well
maintenance and recompletions. Such wells are completed as subsea wells that are tied
back to the floating production system by flowlines and risers.
Well Systems. There are two types of well systems used on floating production
systemssurface wells and subsea wells. Surface well systems have a dry wellhead and
tree that is located on the deck of the floating system. A vertical rigid production riser
connects the surface wellhead and tree to the well at the seafloor. Relative movement
between the riser and the floating production system is accommodated by a riser
9
tensioning system that provides a constant top tension through either mechanical means
or buoyancy. Surface well systems on floating production systems are a direct extension
of the well systems used on platforms, with the main difference being the complexity and
dynamic response of the riser. Surface well systems are limited to floating systems with
little vertical motion and thus little relative motion between the floater and the bottom-
fixed riser. Advantages of surface well systems include the relative ease of drilling,
maintaining, and servicing wells from a drilling or workover rig on the floating
production system, simpler well monitoring and control equipment, and the ability to
receive the produced oil and gas directly onboard for immediate processing without the
produced fluids having to flow unprocessed through a flowline.
Subsea wells have a wet wellhead and tree that is located on the seafloor. The wells are
offset from the floating production system typically by at least several miles. A subsea
well is connected back to the floating production system by seafloor flowlines and a
compliant flexible production riser. The relative motion between the fixed subsea well
and the floating production system can be accommodated by the flexibility that is
provided by the riser length and shape (e.g., catenary or lazy wave) and/or the riser
material. No riser tensioning system is used. The inherent flexibility of such riser
systems allows subsea wells to be used on floating production systems with significant
vertical motion. Subsea wells have to be drilled, maintained, and serviced by a MODU.
This decouples the drilling and well servicing equipment and operations from the floating
production system. This can result in simpler floating production system and less impact
of simultaneous drilling and production operations. Also, the wells can be spread out and
distributed to penetrate the reservoir where needed resulting in simpler, shorter, more
direct wells which are cheaper to drill. (Compare this to having to drill deviated wells
from a common surface location that have to include significant horizontal segments to
reach different parts of the reservoir.)
A major challenge is ensuring continuous flow of unprocessed oil and gas from subsea
wells through the flowlines on the seafloor. These flowlines lie on the seafloor and are
thus subjected to the cold temperatures at the ocean bottom. The produced oil and gas
are cooled as they flow through the flowliries. Paraffin and asphaltene compounds in
produced oil and hydrates in produced gas, which are normally in solution at reservoir
temperatures and pressures, can be deposited as they cool and eventually plug the
flowlines. Once they are plugged, it can be very difficult and costly to clean out the
flowlines and reestablish production. Several techniques are used to assure flow. Flow
assurance measures include the injection of chemicals at the well head to inhibit the
formation of paraffin, asphaltene, or hydrate plugs; insulated flowlines to maintain a
higher temperature; and periodic cleaning by pumping mechanical devices through the
flowlines. These flow assurance measures add significant capital and operational costs to
the subsea wells, often negating savings due to other advantages. Other disadvantages
include more complex well monitoring and control equipment, and the need for an
umbilical to provide power, control, and chemicals to the subsea wells.
10
Mooring Systems. Mooring systems connect the floating production system to piled
foundation systems or anchors on the seafloor. The mooring system provides the lateral
restoring forces to resist the horizontal wave, wind, and current forces trying to offset the
floating production system. The significant offset motions are due to wind, current, and
wave drift, and generally have periods of several minutes. Mooring systems are
generally designed to restrict the lateral offset of the floating production system to about
10% of the water depth, e.g. about 30 m in 300 m of water. Both top-tensioned risers and
catenary risers can be designed to accommodate such motions. The mooring system can
be a tendon system, a catenary mooring system, or a taut mooring system.
A tendon system utilizes a number of vertical tendon members. Several tendons are
attached to each corner of the system and are affixed to pile foundations at the seafloor.
The tendons are made of heavy pipe. The tendons are installed in a manner that leaves
them under a very large pre-tension. As the production system is offset, a restoring force
is developed due to the horizontal component of the tendon tensions. (The effect is like
an inverted pendulum.) The seafloor footprint generated by this mooring system is
small.no larger than the structure itself However, the vertical load on the structure due
to the pretension and the weight of the tendons is quite large and increases the buoyancy
requirements for the floating system.
A catenary mooring system uses a number of legs made up of steel wires and chain
segments. Several legs are attached to each corner of the system in a symmetrical
pattern. Each leg is made up of a segment wire line, which is attached to the floating
production system, and a heavy chain segment lies along the bottom and attached to an
anchor of pile at its end. The length of each leg is on the order of 1.5 or more times the
water depth, and drapes down from the floating system in a catenary shape to a point near
the chain touch down point, and then lies on the seafloor and stretches to the end attached
to the anchor or the pile. As the production system is offset, a portion of the chain is
pulled off of the bottom and its hanging weight increases the tension in the upstream legs
and thus provides a restoring force. This is a relatively simple mooring system that has
been used for decades on semisubmersible MODUs. Disadvantages include the weight
of the mooring system and the congestion on the seafloor caused by the large horizontal
footprint of the mooring system.
Tension Leg Platforms
TLPs are the dominant deepwater floating production system in the Gulf to date. Six
TLPs have been installed in depths ranging from 525 to 1,230 m (Chianis and Poll 1997).
The hulls have four columns (up to 26 m diameter) that are connected by pontoons
(Figure 2.3). The first TLP in the Gu1f, Jolliet, was a small TLP with no onboard drilling
capability and a modest production facility. Auger (Bourgeois 1995) and subsequent
TLPs have been much larger and include drilling and extensive production facilities. The
decks are large (up to 90 in square) and can support extensive topside facilities (Zimmer
et al. 1999). The large size of the decks provides flexibility, and the facilities on some
TLPs have been expanded or modified to increase the production capacity (Judd and
Wallace 1996). The largest capacity facility is on Ursa and is rated at 150 thousand
barrels of oil per day (MBOPD) and 400 million standard cubic feet of gas per day
(MMSCFPD) (Jefferis et al. 1999; Smith et al. 1999).
11
Eiport Risers
Piles
Figure 2.3. Schematic showing Figure 2.4. Schematic showing

major components of a TLP. major components of a spar.
The mooring system is made up of three or four tendons attached to each corner. The
tendons are made of large, high strength, thick-walled pipe that is about 1 m in diameter
and 25 mm thick. These are connected to foundation elements that are affixed to the
seafloor by long piles driven into the seabed. These TLPs have little vertical motion due
to the low natural frequencies of vertical motions resulting from the high tendon tensions.
The high tension is produced by excess buoyancy designed into the hull. The small
vertical motions facilitate the use of surface well systems with top-tensioned risers.
TLPs in the Gulf to date have utilized a surface well system. All TLPs except for Joiliet
are equipped with au onboard drilling rig for drilling and servicing production wells.
Subsea wells located at some kilometers away have been tied back to TLPs (DeLuca
1 999a).
12
Two mini-TLPs of the Seastar design been installed in depths of 500 and 975 m (Kibbee
1996; Kibbee et al. 1999; Furlow 1999a). These smaller systems are designed to produce
smaller fields than would be economically feasible with larger and more costly TLPs.
These mini-TLPs receive production from a few nearby subsea wells that were drilled by
MODUs. These mini-TLPs support full, but sinai!, production processing facilities.
The hull on these mini-TLPs is a shallow draft column. The mooring system has tendons
that are attached to a cruciform structure at the bottom of the hull. These mini-TLPs have
the attractive motion characteristics of the larger TLPs, which facilitates the use of
catenary risers for both the production risers from the wells and the export risers.
Spars
Two spars have been recently installed in the Gulf of Mexico (Meyer et al. 1998; Krieger
et al. 1999), and a third is being installed in late 1999early 2,000 (Furlow 1999c).
Depths range from 590 to 1,468 m. The spar hulls are a large diameter, deep-draft
column (Figure 2.4), with diameters ranging up to about 40 m and lengths of 215 in. The
deep draft naturally provides small vertical motion so that surface well systems can be
used. Deck sizes range up to about 90 m square. The Hoover-Diana spar has the largest
topside facilities and can process 100 MBOPD and 325 MMSCFPD.
Surface well systems are used on the larger spars, Genesis and Hoover-Diana, which also
have onboard drilling capability. The hulls have a central opening or moon pool through
which the production risers pass. Subsea wells can also be tied back to the spars (Meyer
et al. 1998).
The mooring systems are a multi-leg catenary system. Each of the legs is made up of
wire rope and chain segments, which are affixed to the seafloor with driven piles or
suction caissons. The length of each mooring leg is typically about 1.5 times the water
depth.
Semisubmersible-Based Floating Production Systems
One sei'nisubmersiblebased floating production system is currently active in the Gulf.

Another was installed, but removed when the project was abandoned due to poor
reservoir performance. Semisubmersibles have a long and successful history as
successful drilling rigs for exploratory drilling, and new rigs have been recently built that
can drill in depths over 3,000 m (DeLuca 1999d). Semisubmersible-based floating
production systems were thought to be an attractive option for deepwater a few years ago.
Particularly, the conversion of an existing semisubinersible drilling rig to a floating
production system was seen to have the advantages of building on proven technology and
saving time and money. However, the demand for drilling rigs increased with the need to
explore all the newly leased acreage, and the availability of used, capable rigs that could
be purchased and converted at a reasonable costs diminished drastically. Further,
semisubmersibles have larger vertical motions in storms. This is not a problem during
exploratory drilling since the drilling riser can be disconnected and the well can be
temporarily abandoned for a storm. However, production and export catenary risers must
remain attached during storms, and the large vertical motions create significant technical
and costly design challenges (Hays 1996). Thus, other production systems have been
favored to date.
13
Subsea Production Systems

A Subsea Production System is simply one or more subsea wells and related equipment
that produce oil and/or gas to a host facility. Subsea well systems have been discussed
previously in the Well Systems section since any Floating Production System can host
one or more subsea wells. Other equipment in a Subsea Production System can include a
subsea manifold, a template, jumpers, flowlines and production risers, umbilical, and
pipelines (Kirkland et al. 1996). The complexity and amount of equipment is determined
proportional to the number of wells in the system. Wells may be individually tied back to
a host, or several wells may be connected to a manifold by short jumper lines, with the
manifold being connected by a flowline to the host.
Technology is not presently available for subsea processing of oil and gas produced from
subsea wells. Thus, the oil and gas must flow unprocessed through the flowlines to the
manifold and the host. As discussed previously, waxes in oils and hydrates in gas can
cause flow restrictions or complete plugging of flowlines and pipelines. Wax and hydrate
inhibitors are pumped from the host through umbilical lines and injected into the
flowlines at the wells or manifold. The umbilical lines also provide power and control
functions from the host to the wells and manifold.
There are many variations in the way the components can be configured for specific
project needs (Beckmann et al. 1996; Prichard et al. 1996; Mason and Upchurch 1996;
McLaughlin and Alford 1996). Figure 2.5 shows a schematic for a subsea system with
three wells and a manifold that is connected to a fixed platform host. Figure 2.6 shows
an artist's rendition of the components of a two well system with a manifold. The
equipment is large: weliheads and trees can be 5 m high, and a manifold can be 10 m
high. Sometimes the equipment and weliheads for a subsea system are integrated into a
single template structure placed on the seafloor. The deepest subsea system in the Gulf is
Mensa in 1,644 iii of water (McLaughlin 1998).
* !I
Figure 2.5. Subsea production Figure 2.6. Subsea production system

system configuration. components.
14
Transportation Systems
Processed oil and gas are transported from the floating production systems to shore in
separate pipelines. The pipeline transportation system for deepwater production is
functionally very similar to that which had been developed and used for production from
shallow water platforms for decades. The pipelines either go directly to shore and
connect to other pipelines there, or go to a shallow water platform that is connected to the
existing pipeline infrastructure that goes to shore. The oil and gas is processed
sufficiently to be of sales quality as it leaves the floating production system and is
commingled in the existing pipeline infrastructure. Pumps and compressors add energy
to the oil and gas, respectively, to ensure that it will flow to its destination or to the next
pumping or compression station. Chemicals to inhibit corrosion and to improve the flow
properties may be added as the production leaves the platform. The capability to pump
"pigs" through the pipelines to mechanically scrape and clean the pipe interior is
provided.
However, the sizes and lengths of deepwater pipelines and the seafloor terrain upon
which they rest have created technical arid economic challenges. Iii deepwater, the sizes
of the equipment and pipelines tend to be larger to handle the high production rates from
deepwater production systems, and thicker walled pipe is necessary to resist the higher
water pressures and operating pressures. Thus, the pipelines have become very heavy,
and different installation methods, such as J-lay and significant changes to the S-lay
system originally developed for shallow water, had to be developed. These heavy and
thickwalled pipes can buckle easily during installation as the pipe is laid on the seafloor,
and the laying process has to be carefully controlled. The thick-walled pipe also has
required the development of new welding techniques. The seafloor terrain in deepwater
is much rougher than relatively smooth, uniform, and gradually sloping seafloor
characteristic of the shelf. Hills, valleys, and ridges along with areas with relatively soft,
unstable bottoms and other areas with hard bottoms characterize the topography. The
features can cause instabilities and movement in installed pipelines. Pipeline routes must
be selected to avoid such areas, and the pipelaying process must be carefully controlled to
ensure that the pipeline avoids the features. Deepwater pipelines have been successfully
installed to water depths of about 1,800 m in the Gulf.
Deepwater pipelines are very expensive, and have been estimated to cost more than
$1 million per mile (DeLuca 1 999d). Thus, pipeline costs can be a significant factor in
the overall cost of a deepwater development, particularly when the development is a long
way from the existing infrastructure of pipelines.
15
Filture Deepwater Development Activities
Future Deepwater Production
Referring back to Figure 2.1, deepwater production during 2000 should easily exceed
I million barrels per day (MMBOEPD). If the linear trend continues, production could
increase six times the 1994 value, a six-fold increase in just 6 years.
Lease acquisitions, exploration drilling, and discoveries all suggest a continuing strong
increase in deepwatei- production from ever-increasing water depths (Ray 1998). The
Minerals Management Service (MMS) has estimated that total Gulf oil production in
2002 could reach about 2,000 MBOPD arid that roughly 70% would of the total oil and
gas production would be from deepwater. Deepwater leasing has been strong since 1994
and set record highs in 1997. Deepwater drilling has been active in 1999 and there have
been 12 new deepwater discoveries in the Gulf as of September (DeLuca l999b).
Further, there are 26 new deepwater drilling rigs expected to be deliveied by the end of
2000, and 10 of these will begin in the Gulf (DeLuca 1999c).
Estimates of the potential volumes of recoverable deepwater reserves range from 8 to

15 billion barrels of oil (Morrison 1997). The MMS 's most recent (1995) forecast of
Gulf of Mexico deepwater oil and gas potential was about 13 billion BOE (Bacigalupi et
al. 1995). As noted at a recent MMS Information Transfer Meeting (Oyne, December
1999), 370 deepwater wells have been drilled since 1995, with a number of significant
discoveries. The MMS announced the initiation of a new study to revise the estimated
potential in light of recent activities and experience, and it is expected that the estimated
potential will increase substantially. (Note that the estimated potential includes no
reserves from the relatively untested MMS Eastern Planning Area in the northeastern
Gulf).
The above indicates that the deepwater Gulf of Mexico will continue to be an important
oil and gas area. The ever-increasing water depths and the increasing distance from
infrastructure will continue to provide both technical and economic challenges. We next
examine some of the expected impacts on deepwater production systems.
Floating Production Structures

Spars
Spars have been studied for applications to deeper depths, and compared to TLPs (Huang
et al. 1999). Although the number of applications and experience is limited as of this
date, spars appear to be quite flexible and show a low cost sensitivity to increases in
water depth. Spars are significantly more cost effective than large TLPs at depths beyond
2,000 m, and thus are presently the favored concept for a production system with surface
wells for deeper water projects. The applications of a taut moorillg system using
lightweight synthetic (for example, polyester) rope and/or the use of a truss spar may
further reduce the cost and increase the effectiveness of spars.
16
Tension Leg Platforms (TLPs)
Large TLPs can be extended beyond the present deepest depth of 1,230 m. It is
theoretically possible to extend them to 3,000 m with the present tendon systems, but
spars are likely more cost effective in depths beyond 2,000 m (1-luang et al. 1999). To
maintain the small vertical motions that are a major TLP advantage, the tendon area and
weight must increase as depth increases to maintain a high vertical stiffness. The tendon
wall thickness must also increase to resist collapse in deeper water. Increases in the
weight of the conventional tendon system require a larger TLP hull to provide the
additional buoyancy, and the hull and tendon weights (and the TLP costs) increase
rapidly beyond 2,000 m. Several ideas for having lighter tendons (stepped diameter steel
tendons, composite tendons) for deepwater TLPs are being studied (Offshore Engineer
1999; Chianis and Poll 1997) and have the potential to significantly increase the depth at
which TLPs are cost effective choices.
The median discovery volume is about 100 MMBOE for the deepwater Gulf (Ray 1998).
Smaller reservoirs in about 1,000 m depth cannot be economically developed with large
TLPs, and the economics get worse with increasing depths. Several mini-TLP concepts
are being pursued to provide cost effective TLPs for these smaller reservoir volumes.
The Seastar concept has already been deployed in depths to 1,000 m, and the concept is
being studied for projects in depths to 1,850 rn (Matten et al. 1999; Furlow 1999a).
Mini-TLPs with three columns have been studied (Huang et al. 1999).
Floating Production Systems with Storage and Offloading (FPSO)
As the push to deeper water leases continues, new discoveries will be made that are
farther and farther from the existing pipeline infrastructure. With deepwater pipelines
costing $1 million per mile (DeLuca 1 999d), transportation costs for the produced oil and
gas can have a significant negative impact on project economics and may prevent certain
discoveries from being developed. Oil can be 'produced to an FPSO, stored, and then
offloaded onto a shuttle and shipped to shore. This transportation option can save the
cost of expensive deepwater oil pipelines. Thus, the FPSO can be an attractive deepwater
production system option for the Gulf (D'Souza 1999a,b).
FPSOs are often a ship-shaped vessel, but other large volume hulls that can accommodate
large storage tanks, e.g., a spar, could be used. Tankers are most commonly used because
of their large tanks, and tanker-based FPSOs can be either a conversion of a trading
tanker or purpose built. A large turret is built into the tanker, and the ship can rotate
relative to the tanker. The mooring system is attached to this geostationary turret. The
tanker is free to rotate around the turret, and weathervanes with the prevailing wind,
waves, and currents. The tanker-based FPSO cannot accommodate a drilling rig. A
MODU is used to drill subsea wells that are tied back to the FPSO through flowlines with
compliant risers, which are attached to the geostationary turret. The turret includes
provisions for containing the flow 'from the risers to the tanker. Associated gas produced
with the oil must be separated and either transported to shore by a gas pipeline, or
reinjected. The export riser for a gas pipeline would be also attached to the turret.
Figure 2.7 shows a schematic of a tanker-based FPSO.
17
FPSO
with i
Topside Turret
Sh uttle
Facilities
Tanker
-. A
A' Swivel
Mooring
Line/ ' "P'ro'd uction\\
Risers. ...
Exp.oft...
Riser
Figure 2.7. Schematic of tanker-based FPSO offloading to a shuttle tanker.
Today there are 66 FPSOs in service or under construction (McNeely et al. 1999). None
have been permitted in the Gulf to date. The MMS is conducting a study to prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement for the use of tanker-based FPSOs in the Gulf (George
et al. 1999). The MMS is also sponsoring a comparative risk analysis that will compare
the risks of an FPSO operating in the Gulf against the risks of other deepwater production
systems currently operating in the Gulf (Gilbert and Ward 2000). Both studies should be
completed in late 2000, and will be used by the MMS in their decisions to permit FPSOs
in the Gulf (Furlow 1 999d).
Subsea Production Systems
Subsea production systems will continue to be pursued as a means of lowering the

development costs for remote deepwater oil and gas fields through reducing or
completely eliminating the need for a floating production system and increasing the
recovery from subsea oil wells. The focus will be on subsea pressure boosting and flow
assurance.
Subsea pumps add energy so that produced fluids from subsea wells can flow to a distant
transportation infrastructure point, such as a shallow water platform or a floating
production system for processing and/or further pressure boosting. They also reduce the
backpressure on wells so that more oil can be produced from the reservoir as it is being
depleted and its pressure drops. Various solutions and systems are being developed.
Subsea multiphase pumps can pump a mixture of oil, gas, and produced water (Chiesa et
al. 1998). The produced fluids can also be separated using subsea separators prior to the
pipeline (Radicioni et al. 1998). Gas can be separated from the produced liquids (oil and
18
water), and the oil can be subsequently separated from the water. The oil can be pumped
into a pipeline using a single-phase pump, and the water can be reinjected into the
formation by another pump (Bringedal et al. 1999). These various pieces of separators
and pumps can be used as building blocks or components, and configured and integrated
into systems that fit the particular reservoir and development requirements (Pourier arid
Alary 1998). Other system components include system and well controls, motors, and
equipment to convert and control power, monitor well performance, and inject chemicals
for flow assurance. The integrated systems become complex. Components and
equipment has been prototyped and tested, and there have been limited pilot trials and
actual applications of integrated systems.
Control functions, power, and any chemicals are provided through an umbilical that is
connected to a host production system or transportation interface point. Umbilicals are
complex and costly, and their cost and installation difficulty increases with depth.
System maintenance is done using Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) deployed from
surface vessels. MODUs are used to undertake well workovers and recompletions.
Flow assurance will continue to be an important consideration in the expanded use of

subsea well and production systems. In addition to the continuing development of
inhibitors, other techniques are being actively developed to prevent wax and hydrate
formation in flowlines. Flowline heating (Bass and Langner 1998), pipe-in-pipe (I-loose
et al. 1996), and insulated pipelines (Chin et al. 1999) are being developed and deployed
as a means to prevent heat loss leading to wax and/or hydrate formation. Trenching
pipelines into the seafloor is also being considered as an option for insulating deepwater
pipelines (Lokay 1999).
Further experience and developments will increase both the economic and technical
confidence and use of subsea wells and development systems in present water depths.
Currently offsets (distance from subsea wells to surface host system) of 20 to 25 miles
are considered to be "at the leading edge" (Furlow 1 999b). Offsets will increase with
experience and confidence. Additional development will also be needed as water depths
increase.
Transportation Systems
Oil and gas pipeline and flowline costs will continue to increase with increasing depth
and distance from infrastructure. Additional developments will focus on the design,
construction, and installation to reduce the costs of extrapolating current technology
(Coutarel 1998; Heerema 1998; Bonnell et al. 1999; DeLuca 1999b).
As discussed above, FPSOs provide an alternative to oil pipelines. However, there is

often a considerable amount of associated gas with oil production in the Gulf (Furlow
1 999e). The present options for handling gas include reinjection in the reservoir and
transporting to shore via a deepwater pipeline (Curole et al. 1997). As the opportunities
for reinj ecting gas are limited, most deepwater developments will include an expensive
19
Ward: Deep water Technology
deepwater pipeline. An alternative is to process the gas onboard the FPSO and convert it
to product that can be transported via a ship in a similar fashion as the use of shuttle
tanicers to transport oil. Several processes to convert gas to different liquid products are
being investigated (Verghese 1998; Agee 1999; Grimmer 1999; Rodvelt et al. 1999).
Though the fundamental idea is attractive and sound, the technical and economic
challenges of successfully deploying these processes on an FPSO are formidable. In
addition, liquefied natural gas (LNG) is being considered, but the gas volumes from a
deepwater development system needed to justify the costs of the special cryogenic
transportation vessels are quite large.
Future Technology Challenges
Experience to date has indicated the oil industry can, with evolving technology,
successfully develop deepwater production in the Gulf of Mexico in depths approaching
1,800 n-i in a safe, environmentally responsible, and economic manner. New technology
will be needed to continue this success and overcome the technical and economic
challenges of producing oil and gas in depths to 3,000 in. High rate, high ultimate
recovery wells, reduced project cycle time, and reductions in capital costs are important
to the economic success of deepwater developments, and will become even more critical
as depths approach 3,000 m.
Many technical challenges have been discussed in the previous section. There are other
technical challenges and needs that were not mentioned. Some of the more significant
topics include drilling wells in areas prone to shallow water flows (Jefferis et al. 1999),
deepwater risers and moorings (Kavanagh and O'Sullivan 1999; Ward et al. 1999), and
geotechnical properties of the deep ocean bottom (Dutt et al. 1997). Research and
development activities are underway, and future needs will continue to be addressed
through projects conducted and/or sponsored by individual companies, through joint
industry funded projects, and through broad industry sponsored programs such as
DeepStar (Verret and Hays 1999) and the Offshore Technology Research Center
(1988-1 999a,b). Teclmology assessment and research and development in support of
deepwater development and regulations are also being sponsored by the MMS through
their Technology Assessment and Research Program.
The worldwide interest in developing deepwater oil and gas has also led other research
activities overseas. These activities provide another source of ideas and technology for
meeting deepwater challenges in the Gulf of Mexico.
20
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of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, New Orleans, LA.
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Offshore Technology Conference, New Orleans, LA
Beckmann, M.M., M.L. Byrd, J. bit, J.W. Riley, C.K. Snell, C. Tyer, and D. Brewster. 1996.
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Bonnell, S.A., M.S. Blackmore, and C.K.W. Tam. 1999. Pipeline routing and engineering for
ultradeepwater developments. Proc. 3 i' Annual Offshore Technology Conference,
Houston, TX. OTC Paper 10708.
Bourgeois, T.M. 1995. Auger tension-leg platform: conquering the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
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produced water. Proc. 3 1 " Annual Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, TX.
OTC Paper 10967.
Chianis, J. and P. Poll. 1997. Studies clear TLP cost, depth limit misconceptions. Offshore
Magazine, July.
Chiesa, G., L. Ursini, and G.F. Aggradi. 1998. A deepwater multiphase boosting system to
support the economical exploitation of deepwater fields. Proc. Deep Offshore
Technology Conference, New Orleans, LA.
Chin, Y.D., J.G. Bomba, and K.R.J. Brown. 1999. Structural and thermal optimization of cased
insulated flowlines. Proc. 3 l Annual Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, TX.
OTC Paper 11042.
Congdon, B. and C. Fagot. 1999. Gulf of Mexico deep water oil and gas production rises
dramatically. Special Information Release, Minerals Management Service.
Coutarel, A. 1998. MJ Lay, a modular deepwater pipelay system. Proc. 30th Annual Offshore
Technology Conference, Houston, TX. OTC Paper 8713.
US. Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, New Orleans, LA. OCS
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Curole, M.A., W.D. Grimes, C.B. Wallace, T.R. Judd, and R.W. Chin. 1997. Deepwater gas
processing challenges. Proc. 1997 76th Annual Convention of the Gas Processors
Association, San Antonio, TX.
D'Souza, R. 1999a. FPSO deployment promising for US Gulf of Mexico. Offshore Magazine
59(5).
D'Souza, R. 1999b. Major technical and regulatory issues for monohull floating production
systems in the Gulf of Mexico. Proc. 3 Annual Offshore Technology, Houston, TX.
21
DeLuca, M. 1999. Four quick discoveries boost outlook for US Gulf deepwater, Offshore
Magazine, June 1999.
DeLuca, M. 1999. Record 25 deepwater discoveries worldwide in 1999. Offshore Magazine,
September 1999.
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Offshore Magazine, September 1999.
DeLuca, M. 1999. Product transportation becoming deciding issue in deepwater development.
Offshore Magazine, November 1999.
Duff, RN., W.S. Rainey, T.K. Hamilton, J.H. Pelletier, and Ed-I. Doyle. 1997. Recent advances
in deepwater Gulf of Mexico geotechnical investigations. Proc. 291h Annual Offshore
Technology Conference, Houston, TX.
Furlow, W. 1999a. Mini-TLP may join Spar as workhorse in deepwater production. Offshore
Magazine, July 1999.
Furlow, W. 1999b. What technologies will be required for 100-mile tiebacks? Offshore
Magazine, July 1999.
Furlow, W. 1999c. Record setting deep-draft caisson set for installation. Offshore Magazine,
September 1999.
Furlow, W. 1999d. Turret Location, abandonment issues studied for US Gulf FPSO. Offshore
Magazine, September 1999.
Furlow, W. 1 999e. Is associated natural gas an asset or burden?. Offshore Magazine, November
1999.
George, J.E., W.J. Parker, and D.J. Cranswick. 1999. FPSO Environmental Impact Statement:
What is happening? Proc. 3i Annual Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, TX.
OTC Paper 10705.
Gilbert, R.M. and E.G. Ward. 2000. Planned approach for comparative risk analysis of
deepwater production systems in the Gulf of Mexico. Proceedings of OMAE 2000, 19111
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LA.
Grimmer, P. 1999. GTL: Perspectives of an Oil Company as a Technology Developer. Proc.
3 l Annual Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, TX. OTC Paper 10760.
Hays, P.R. 1996. Steel catenary risers for semisubmersible based floating production systems.
Proc. 28111 Annual Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, TX.
Heerema, E.P. 1998. Major deepwater pipelay vessel starts work in North Sea. Oil and Gas
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Hoose, J.W., D.R. Schneider, and E.L. Cook. 1996. Rocky Flowline project - the Gulf of
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Houston, TX.
Huang, E., Y. Luo, and J. Zou. 1999. Concept evaluation of deepwater surface tree floating
systems. Proc. 8l SNAME Offshore Symposium, Houston, TX.
Jefferis, R.G., K.A. Digre, and J.P. Haney. 1999. Ursa Team based project management -
overcoming adversity in 4000 ft. of water. Proc. 31 Annual Offshore Technology
22
Judd, T.R. and C.B. Wallace. 1996. Auger Platform: Debottlenecking and expansion of fluid
handling facilities. Proc. 1996 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition,
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and technical challenges. Proc. 8thi SNAME Offshore Symposium, Houston, TX.
Kibbee, S. 1996. TLP Technology SeaStar minimal platform for small deepwater reserves.
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Kibbee, S.E., S.J. Leverette, K.B. Davies, and R.B. Mallen. 1999. Morpeth SeaStar Mini-TLP.
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Kirkland, K.G., E.M. Richardson, and C. Hey. 1996. DeepStar evaluation of subsea trees and
manifold concepts. Proc. 28111 Annual Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, TX.
Krieger, W.F., J.C. Heslop, B.E. Lundvall, and D.T. McDonald. 1999. Genesis Spar Hull and
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Lokay, B. 1999. How effective is flowline burial as a thermal insulation method? Offshore
Magazine, September 1999.
Mason, P.G.T. and J.L. Upchurch. 1996. Seastar: Subsea cluster manifold system design and
installation. Proc. 2gth Annual Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, TX.
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the mono-coluinn TLP with many Deepwater Applications. Proc. 8th SNAIVIE Offshore
Symposium, Houston, TX.
McLaughlin, D.C. 1998. Mensa Project: An overview. Proc. 30t1, Annual OTC, Houston, TX.
OTC Paper 8576.
McLaughlin, D.C. and B.J. Alford. 1996. Popeye Project: An overview. Proc. 28th Annual
Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, TX.
McNeely, P., R. Kota, P. Powell, P. Leitch, and R. D'Souza. 1999. FPSO fabrication escalating
as subsea, flow assurance mastered. Offshore Magazine 59(8).
Meyer, E.E., M. Al-Sharif, and J.L. Upchurch. 1998. An overview of the Neptune Phase IV
Subsea Tieback. Proc. lOhhl Deep Offshore Technology Conference, New Orleans, LA.
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Deep Offshore Technology Conference, New Orleans, LA.
23
Ward: Deep water Technology
Prichard, R.M., K.P. DeJoim, P. Farrell, C. Baggs, and D. Harris. 1996. Pompano subsea
development: Production control system and umbilicals. Proc. 28 Annual Offshore
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Design, fabrication and transportation. Proc. 3 1111 Annual Offshore Technology
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Annual Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, TX. OTC Paper 10755.
24
Chapter 3: Geology
William R. Bryant and Jia Yuh Liu
Basin History 25
Study History 26
Seafloor Morphology 26
Structures 29
Salt 29
Faulting within the Continental Slope 36
Sedimentation in the Northern Gulf of Mexico 37
Sediment Sources and Drainage Patterns 38
Depocenters 40
Continental Slope Basins 42
Salt Induced Physiography of the Upper and Middle Continental Slope 43
Salt Induced Physiography of the Lower Continental Slope 46
Geohazards 49
Literature Cited 54
Basin History
The Gulf of Mexico is an Atlantic-type passive continental margin (Martin 1978).
During the Late Triassic, rifling occurred between the North American plate and the
AfricanlSouth American and Eurasian plates. As the North American plate drifted away
from the Africa! South American and Eurasian plates, the Gulf of Mexico basin was born
in the stretched zone. Seawater flowed intermittently into the basin, depositing over 3 km
of salt during the Late Middle Jurassic (Martin and Bouma 1978). During the Late
Jurassic, carbonate deposition was dominant. During the Middle Cretaceous, slow
subsidence of the carbonate shelves with little elastic input resulted in a reef system being
built (Stuart City/Lower Cretaceous reef trend) that extended from southern Texas
eastward to southern Louisiana to the shelf edge of Florida and to the eastern Campeche
Escarpment. In the Late Cretaceous-Paleocene, due to a Laramide orogeny in the interior
continent, detrital sediments started to flux into the northern and western Gulf of Mexico
(Coleman et al. 1986). The Gulf of Mexico was inactive during the late Eocene; in the
Oligocene, the southern Rockies underwent intensive volcanism; in the early Miocene,
the normal faulting molded the relief we see today; during middle Miocene and Pliocene,
the western U.S. underwent a series of broad uplifts (Winker 1982). During the
Cenozoic, the total thickness of sediments was estimated to be over 15 km in the
northwestern Gulf of Mexico (Martin and Bouma 1978). In the southern and eastern part
of the Gulf of Mexico, carbonate deposition remained active since the Late Jurassic-Early
Cretaceous, with only small amounts of detrital sediments being deposited in the
Quaternary (Coleman et al. 1986).
25
Bryant and Liu: Geology
Study History
In the 19th century, geological work was conducted along the borders of the Gulf of
Mexico. Early investigations were by individual scientists arid later by geological survey
institutions. Our basic understanding of the geology of the Gulf of Mexico was mainly
attributed to the efforts of the petroleum industry. Before the 1920's, survey methods
were limited to surface observations used to find oil and gas seeps, and torsion balance
refraction seismograph to locate the shallow salt structures. In the 1930's, the invention
of the reflection seismograph not only doubled the oil and gas discovery but also enabled
us to examine the geology of the Gulf to greater depths and detail. The thousands of oil
wells drilled helped reveal detailed stratigraphy of the areas in and around the basin. The
first offshore exploration in the Gulf of Mexico started in 1938, and the first offshore
seismic survey was conducted in 1944 (Salvador 1991). Since then, the study of Gulf of
Mexico geology has varied from large-scale sediment studies in the northern Gulf of
Mexico (e.g., Fisk et al. 1954; Fisk 1956; Moore and Scruton 1957; Shepard 1959;
Scruton 1960), to salt tectonics and seismic stratigraphy (e.g., Ewing and John 1966;
Lehner 1969; Bouma et al. 1978; Doyle et al. 1979; Bouma 1981), to sedimentology and
mineralogy (e.g., Roberts et al. 1986) and the cause and results of erosion and turbidite
deposition (e.g. Martin and Bouma 1982; Roberts et al. 1986), to sequence stratigraphy.
Seafloor Morphology
Figure 3.1 illustrates the physiography of the Northern Gulf of Mexico.
The Early Cretaceous carbonate areas that comprise the Florida Terrace and the
Campeche Terrace, with dips less than 2° and 4°, respectively, are relatively flat. On the
seaward side, these terraces are bound by the Florida Escarpment and the Campeche
Escarpment. The two escarpments represent a depth difference of up to 2,300 rn, cover a
40 km wide area, and display the steepest slope gradients (up to 40°) of the region. The
West Florida upper continental slope, in water depths of about 500 in, contains a terrace
that was composed of Miocene sediments (Coleman et al. 1986). A series of gullies and
small canyons that crease the upper and middle slope are associated with mass movement
processes that range from creep to massive slides to gravity-induced folds tens of
kilometers long (Doyle and Holmes 1985). The northern part of the Campeche
Escarpment also contains a series of gullies and small canyons, s?aced about 5 km apart,
that cut through the slope. At 27.3°N and 25.7°N, two 4,000 km sized, dual-folded
zones lie parallel to the Florida Escarpment. The Vernon Basin is located between these
two fold zones.
At the northern end of the Florida Escarpment is the NNE-SSW aligned De Soto Canyon,
which separates the carbonate-dominated Florida platform from the
terrigenous-dorninated environment to the west. West of the De Soto Canyon many
NNW-SSE directioned canyons formed during the late Wisconsin sea-level lowstand.
These canyons include Dorsey and Sounder Canyons. Except for a canyon due west of
the De Soto Canyon, that cuts through the shelf break, all other canyons seem to originate
at a water depth of 400 in or deeper and extend more than 60 km basinward. To the west
26
usNAtt83
Prection: Albers Equal Area
First StaxrdarrJ Pamilab 2 24 OON -
Se nd Standard PeraHl:24 12 OON
Cerdml Handles-. 91 W
Figure 3.1. Bathymetric map of the northern Gulf of Mexico deepwater area. Water depths range from about 15Cm in the north to about 3,70Cm
in the Sigsbee Plain. This bathymetry is a shaded relief based on multibeam and digitized seismic data. The simulated sun has an
azimuth of 45° and an angle of 450
Bryant and Liii: Geology
of these canyons are a series of pancakeshaped, 5 to 15 km wide salt domes, which

become more scattered and smaller iii size in a basinward direction. The first sub-salt
well drilled in the Gulf of Mexico was by Exxon on one of the pancake domes called
Mickey.
The largest submarine canyon in the Gulf of Mexico is the U-shaped Mississippi Canyon,
which is a late Pleistocene erosional feature that cuts through the shelf break (Coleman et
al. 1986). The canyon has a width of about 30 km. Approximately 120 km from the
canyon mouth the Pleistocene Mississippi Fan appears. The caiiyonlfan complex extends
for more than 500 km past the shelf edge onto the Sigsbee Abyssal Plain. The
Mississippi Fan occupies an area of about 145,000 lun2.
The Mississippi fan is a large deepsea fan consisting of a broad arcuate accumulation of
predominantly Pliocene and Pleistocene sediments. The Mississippi Fan is flanked on
the east by the West Florida carbonate platform and on the north and west by the Texas
Louisiana Continental Slope. The deeper parts of the fan merge with the Florida Plain to
the southeast and with the Sigsbee Plain to the southwest. Significant contributions to the
fan have come from sources other than the Mississippi Embossment, particularly from
the Campeche Escarpment, the Florida Escarpment, and the De Soto Canyon (Feeley et
al. 1985). Feeley et al. (1985) suggest that eight seismic sequences comprise the
Plio/Pleistocene section of the Mississippi Fan and these sequences are bounded by basin
wide unconformities. They state that the basic transport/deposition mechanisms are mass
transport (slump, debris flow), turbidity current flow (channelized and unchannelized),
and pelagic deposition. They suggest that mass transport appeared to be the dominant
process for deposition and may account for up to 30% of the total amount of sediment
deposited on the Fan. Channelized lobe development (channel and overbank deposits)
apparently occurred late in the evolution of the majority of sediment sequences observed
and that it may be associated with a rise in sea level.
The Texas-Louisiana Slope is located west of the Mississippi Canyon. It occupies an

area of about 120,000 km2 and contains the widest slope (up to 230 km) and the most
rugged morphology in the northern Gulf of Mexico. There are over 105 domes and
basins that have been named and approved by the U.S. Board of Geographic Names
(BGN) (Bouma and Bryant 1994). Although the average continental slope gradient is
less than 10, a local slope gradient can exceed 40°. The domes and basins in the area
range from 5 to 30 km in diameter. The domes are prominent on the upper slope, they
increase in size to become salt massifs that surround basins on the middle slope, and lie
under basins on the lower slope (Simmons 1992). The basinward termination of the
slope is the Sigsbee Escarpment, which is a surficial expression of the basinward salt
front (Moore et al. 1978). This salt front displays an extruded tongue feature with an
elevation of about 600 m above the continental rise, and comprises gradients ranging
from 100 to 20°. Several canyons break the semi-continuous Sigsbee Escarpment: Green
Canyon, Famella Canyon, Cortez Canyon, Bryant Canyon, Keathley Canyon, and
Alaminos Canyon. There are fan deposits between the Green and Farnella Canyons that
merge with the Mississippi Fan. Some channels are visible on top of these coalesced fans
that radiate outwards in a basinward direction. Southward of Bryant Canyon lays the
28
Blyant and Liii: Geology
Bryant Fan, which is about 25,000 km2 in size. This fan reaches to the Cortez Canyon in
the east, Keathley Canyon in the west, and extends about 170 km south from the canyon
mouth. The lack of fan deposits in the mouth of Keathley Canyon suggests that this
canyon is structurally controlled (Lee 1990). Due east of Green Canyon is Green Knoll,
a salt diapir with over 400 m of relief Using a submersible, a brine pooi and active seeps
were found on the east side near the crest of the knoll, although no salt exposure was
observed. The oversaturated brine waters coming out from the seeps on the knoll have
braided drainage pafterns (Roberts et al. 1991). Besides the Green Knoll, brine seeps
were also observed in Orca Basin (Shokes et al. 1977), in the East Flower Garden Bank
area (Brooks et al. 1979), and in the drill hole at Site 66 (Manheim and Bischoff 1969).
In the northwest portion of the Gulf of Mexico, the Rio Grande Slope separates the
Texas-Louisiana Slope from the East Mexico Slope. Similar to offshore Mississippi and
Alabama, the Rio Grande Slope displays more than 15 pancake-shaped domes. In the
area are a series of canyons that cut through the shelf break. The canyons are broad and
tend to be located between domes or banks. Between Price Spur arid Calhoun Dome,
there are many tightly spaced canyons that form a 22 km wide valley with a 7 km wide
bank. There are only a few small canyons, hundreds of meters wide that cut through the
Rio Grande Slope. A number of the canyons observed may be an artifact due to the lack
of detailed multibeam data in the western Gulf At the seaward end of the western
continental slope, the Perdido and Alaminos Canyons appear. The submarine fans that
downdip from these two canyons merge basinward and are much smaller in size than the
Bryant Fan (about 5,000 km2).
To the south of the Rio Grande Slope is the East Mexico Slope. The northern portion of
the East Mexican Slope is mainly controlled by diapiric activity. The southern side of the
East Mexico Slope represents the northern end of the Mexican Ridges (Bryant 1986). At
the basinward limit of the Texas-Louisiana, Rio Grande, and East Mexico Slopes, is the
Western Gulf Rise, which is about 40 km wide. In between the Western Gulf Rise, the
Mississippi Fan, and the Campeche Escarpment is the Sigsbee Plain, which has a water
depth of about 3,700 m. In between the Campeche Escarpment and the Florida
Escarpment is the Florida Plain, with a water depth of about 3,400 m. Except for the
Sigsbee Knolls, which are up to 250 m above the Sigsbee Plain, these two abyssal plains
have an average slope gradient of less than 0.5° and are the flattest mapped regions in the
deepest part of the Gulf of Mexico.
Structures
Salt
Of all the geological events taking place within the northwestern Gulf of Mexico the
action of salt, halokinesis, is the most striking and influential in the modification of the
structure of the continental slope. Figure 3.2 displays the location of salt on the
northwestern Gulf of Mexico Continental Margin.
29
Figure 3.2. Salt and fault distributions in the northern Gulf of Mexico (Adapted from: Diegel et al. 1995). This map only shows structure
distributions north of 26°N and westof88°W. The light-shaded background is the bathymetry map as shown in Figure 3.1.
Bryant and Liw Geology
Bradshaw and Watkins (1995) have depicted salt migration pathways in the northwestern
Gulf of Mexico as a complex interplay of basement architecture with subsequent
depositional loading. They suggest that "the original deposition of Middle Jurassic
Louann Salt was systematically offset right lateral along-strike across a series of
northwest-southwest orientated transfer faults." They suggest that two major phases of
postrifi salt migration are evidenced in the shallow Neogene allochthonous salt sheets
across the Sigsbee slope region, and are remnants of a deeper Paleogene salt canopy.
They state that "A Paleogene canopy was emplaced when salt migrated vertically out of
the original middle Jurassic salt basins due to early gravity spreading and differential
sediment loading down dip of Lower Cretaceous and Paleocene shelf margins." The
geographical distribution of this canopy was essentially controlled by earlier
segmentation of Middle Jurassic salt basins across transfer faults, occurring most
landward to the southwest and systematically farther seaward across each transfer fault.
Generation of the Perdido foldbelt was synchronous with emplacement of the Paleogene
salt canopy due to minor lateral migration of mother salt over deep basinal strata.
Bradshaw and Watkins (1995) state that rapid remobilization of Paleogene allochthonous
salt occurred in the Neogene when shelf margins began to prograde into the offshore
Texas area. They suggest that variations in thickness of the sediment across the margin
created lateral pressure gradients within the underlying salt. The pressure caused the salt
to move from areas of higher pressure to areas of lower pressure, or seaward and upward.
They suggest that in some cases salt migrated seaward for long distances and that the
"remobilization of salt along the Neo gene shelf margins was not synchronous." They
state "that shelf margin loads encountered first one basin then another because of
irregular location of salt basins and the irregular advance of the shelfedge." They figured
that the " loading and spreading combined to displace salt over 100 km onto the Sigsbee
slope and the seaward migration of salt created extensive salt withdrawal basins."
Salt deposited in the Gulf of Mexico during late Triassic and Jurassic contains a group of
minerals that include sodium and potassium chlorides (Nelson 1991). In the Gulf of
Mexico, 90% to 98% of the salt is composed of halite (NaC1), which has a density of
2.16 gcc1 (Halbouty 1979; Kupfer 1989). The most common impure salt is anhydrite,
which has a density of 2.96 gcc'. With 95% of halite and 5% of anhydrite, the bulk
density of the salt would be about 2.2 gcc' (Nelson 1991). On top of the salt diapirs, the
meteoric waters may resolve the halite and keep the less soluble anhydrite (Murray 1966;
Posey and Kyle 1988), which forms cap rock (Murray 1966; Posey and Kyle 1988). As
time progresses and when hydrocarbons are present, the anhydrite lying in between the
salt diapir and cap rock will accumulate arid may convert to calcite arid hydrogen sulfide
(Feely and Kulp 1957; Kyle et al. 1987).
In the northern portion of the Gulf of Mexico basin, salt was deposited in interior basins
and in coastal and offshore basins (Martin 1978, 1980a). The interior basins include
onshore Texas, north Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, the Florida panhandle,
and the northeast Gulf of Mexico. The coast and offshore basins include onshore south
Louisiana and southeast Texas, and Louisiana and Texas shelf and slope (Humphris
1979; Martin 1978, 1980). In the south of the Gulf of Mexico, the salt basin includes the
31
Campeche Escarpment, the Bay of Campeche, and onshore southern Mexico. Figure 3.3
illustrates the location of major salt basins in the Gulf of Mexico (Simmons 1992).
Salt and salt structures in the Gulf of Mexico usually have many shapes. Simmons
(1992) described various salt structures in the Gulf of Mexico as follows. A salt pillow is
a circular or elliptical shaped salt structure with conformable contact with overlying
sediments. A salt stock or salt dome is a cylindrical and usually mushroom-shaped salt
that pierces through the overlying sediments. Salt massifs are moderate-sized salt
structures with irregular shape and large overhangs (Martin 1984). A salt wedge is a
large landward-dipping structure that usually thickens with depth (Ray 1988). A salt
tongue is an asymmetrical lobe that usually spreads downdip. A salt sill is a
subhorizontal intrusion at shallow depths (Nelson and Fairchild 1989). Salt canopies, a
common structure on the upper and middle continental slope off Texas and Louisiana, are
two coalescing salt structures (Jackson and Talbot 1989). A salt diapir is salt that has
penetrated the overlying sediments. Other terms used to describe salt include salt
halokinesiswhich is salt movement under gravitational movement; autochthonous salt
is salt that is still attached to its source; allochthonous salt is salt that has being separated
from the mother salt. In the Gulf of Mexico, the majority of salt is allochthonous salt that
has gone through many stages of mobilization and emplaced at a shallower depth than the
original salt deposit.
Jackson and Talbot (1986) classified the driving forces of salt into buoyancy, differential
loading, gravity spreading, thermal Convection, and halotectonics. The low density of
salt makes it more buoyant compared with their surrounding sediments and often rises as
diapiric structures. In the offshore Texas and Louisiana, assuming a salt average density
of 2.2 gcc1, the depth to achieve a sediment density that is greater than the salt density is
about 1,500 m, while to support a salt diapir to rise from the source layer to the seafloor
requires 3,600 m thick of sediment (Nelson 1991). The size of the source and the purity
of the salt will also influence the density inversion depth (Trusheim 1960). Unlike the
theory of buoyancy, differential loading does not require a deeper depth (Jackson and
Galloway 1984). The differential loading can be due to slope gradient like in a prograded
shelf where there is difference in sediment loading and water colunm. A differential
loading can also occur if there is lateral facies change (Simmons 1992). Gravity
spreading is gravity-induced lateral spreading (Ramberg 1981). Gravity spreading
occurred at or above the neutral buoyancy level and is believed to be the cause of
extensive salt tongues observed in the Gulf of Mexico (Ramberg 1981; Jackson and
Talbot 1986; Nelson and Fairchild 1989). I-ialotectoriics is the influence caused by
tectonics and the relief caused by the growth fault extension and basinward compression
may have the relief that can initiate salt buoyancy and differential loading. Figure 14
illustrates the nature of the salt nappe as it appears on the lower continental slope. The
seismic characteristics of intraslope supralobal basins are also illustrated. Figure 3.5
shows the termination of the salt nappe at the Sigsbee Escarpment.
32
East;Texas, North. ouisiana
8'aItBagin SItin
Figure 3.3. Major salt basins in the northern Gulf of Mexico (Adapted from: Simmons 1992). Gray color represents the extent of the salt.
Stippled areas represent major salt basins, which contain original Middle Jurassic salt greater than 1,000 m thick.
Jujcj pu :n!7 AI5ofo&E
0 -
N) G) 4 01 ) 4 0) (0 o
(sec) time travel Two-way
17E
35
The general belief about salt evolution in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico is that salt has
flowed upward from its mother source and spread laterally basinward. Buried salt can be
remobilized and can pierce through its overburden and spread basinward many times. In
terms of chronological evolution of salt in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, West (1989)
stated that salt moved seaward from the effects of sediment loading and formed a salt
swell in the seaward portions of the depocenter during the middle Miocene. The salt
swell became diapiric and pierced through the overburden and caused seafloor relief
during the upper Miocene. Growth faults and salt swells blocked sedimentation and
allowed the salt to be pushed further seaward during the upper Miocene-Pliocene times.
Continued sediment deposition helped the salt's upward and outward movement (early
Pleistocene). Salt prograded seaward due to further rapid sediment loading (late
Pleistocene).
Faulting within the Continental Slope
In a continental slope environment, we usually expect extension in the upper slope,

compression in the lower slope, and translation in the middle slope. In the Gulf of
Mexico, even with a regional slope gradient of less than 1°, the extension combined with
rapid subsidence, differential compaction, and gravitational sliding caused normal
faulting in the shelf edge and upper continental slope. These normal faulting usually are
listric-shaped and many are down-to-the-basin faults that die out on top of a decollement
layer, which usually is salt or shale (Nelson 1991). As the progradation of the depocenter
proceeds the growth faults may invert to counter-regional growth faults with
mounded-shaped structure on the downdip side (Seni and Jackson 1989).
In the lower continental slope, the compression is manifested by folding and thrusting.
Examples of these folding and thrusting are the shallow-depth deep-rooted Mississippi
Fan Fold Belt and Perdido Fold Belt (Blickwede and Queffelec 1988; Weirner and
Buffler 1989). Some of these fault planes have a span of 30 m at the seafloor and
provided conduits for gas and fluids (Roberts et al. 1986).
In the translation zone of the middle continental slope of the northwestern Gulf of
Mexico, the structure is a mixture of extension, compression, and translation. In the
intraslope basins, normal faulting has been observed on the top of salt diapirs, in the
upper wall along the basin rims, and on the basin floors. In these extension areas, the
cause is a combination of salt diapiric activity, steep slope gradients, and salt withdrawal.
In the salt diapir case, faults are usually high-angled with a radial pattern, and die down
and away from the diapir. Figure 32 illustrates the distribution of major faults in the
northwestern Gulf of Mexico.
36
Bryant and Liv: Geology
Sedimentation in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

The sedimentation patterns in the Gulf of Mexico are mainly influenced by
geornorphology, salt halokinesis, faulting, sea level changes, and sediment input.
The last major sea level lowstand, the Wisconsinan, occurred about 18,000 yr ago, and
during that time sea level dropped about 60 to 120 m (Bloom 1983). During the early
Holocene (14,000 to 11,000 yr BP), sea level rose rapidly. The rapid melting of the ice
sheet created large discharges that carried large amounts of sediments that were deposited
on the outer shelf and upper slope in a short time. The rapid deposition and burial
produced overpressured sediments on steep slopes that caused instability and mass
movements and sediment gravity flows (Prior and Coleman 1978; Prior and Coleman
1980; van den Bold et al. 1987). The Mississippi River during the last lowstand in sea
level, late Wisconsinan, carried more than 13 times its current sediment load (80 x 1011
kg-yf' compared with 6 x 1011 kgyr; Perimutter 1985). When sea level was low,
sediments migrated seaward, which caused rapid build-out in front of the prograding
delta lobes (Coleman et al. 1986). During the Holocene sea level rise, with little
terrigenous sediment input deposited sediments a much slower rate (<10 cm-kyf') (van
den Bold et al. 1987).
During sea-level highstand, the majority of the coarse-grained sediments are trapped
within the shelf province and hemipelagic sediment settling became dominant in the deep
water (Bryant et al. 1995). Sea-level highstand deposits tend to be parallel laminated but
are highly bioturbated and comparatively thin compared to sea-level lowstand deposits.
From 60 piston cores taken in the Gulf of Mexico, Davies (1972) observed the upper 20
to 50 cm layer of Globigerina ooze overlying argillaceous lutite and sand/silt interbeds
that range from 1 mm to 150 cm in thickness. From radiocarbon dating, Davies
concluded the sharp base of the ooze is the 11,000 yr ago Pleistocene-Holocene boundary
(Ewing et al. 1958). The upper clay-sized ooze layer displays parallel lamination and
bedding, and is attributed to the pelagic settling. In the Mississippi Fan, single laminae
may represent seasonal fluctuations, whereas the single bed may represent long-term
(100 yr) fluctuation of climate (Huang and Goodell 1970).
Except for the carbonate platforms offshore Florida and Campeche, the detrital sediments
in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico are mainly transported subaerially by river systems
during sea-level lowstands (Beard et al. 1982). During lowstands, the canyons cut into
the outer shelf and upper slope and became conduits that carried coarser-grained
sediments to the deep water. The transporting mechanisms are gravity-induced mass
movements (Middleton and Hampton 1976). Depending on the interaction of the grains
with the density flow, they may be turbulence-supported turbidity currents or
matrix-strength-supported debris flows. Movement can also result from less defonned
whole body movement along a surface or slides, or from slump deposits.
Turbidity currents are considered the most important transportation mechanism that
carried sand and silt beds thicker than 5 cm in the Gulf of Mexico. Turbidite beds display
erosional bases, graded bedding, and Bouma sequence C-D-E. The bioturbation only
occurs in the uppermost part. The bioturbation is not affected by the size of the sediment,
but rather a factor of the sedimentation rate. In the Bouma sequence, C is current ripple
37
lamination; D is parallel lamination; £ is a structureless unit. In the Gulf of Mexico, a

complete Bouma sequence is rare. A (graded bed) and B (parallel lamination) are usually
missing. The absence of A and B iii the sediment of the Gulf of Mexico is due to the
predominance of fine sand, silt, and clay sediment (Davies 1972).
The influence of bottom currents on the distribution of sediments has been controversial
in the deepwater environment. Roberts et al. (1982) suggested that certain bedform
erosions in the Gulf were the results of oceanic currents. Martin and Bouma (1982)
suggested slumping was the cause of bed truncations, and van den Bold et al. (1987)
believed bottom currents were insignificant in a water depth deeper than 200 m in the
Gulf of Mexico. Recent Texas A&M University Deep Tow surveys in the Gulf of
Mexico on the lower continental slope confirmed that there were deepwater processes
which produced 20 rn-spaced, 5 m wide mega-furrows that were sub-parallel to the
bathymetric contour lines southward of the Sigsbee Escarpment. These mega-bedforms
indicate swift bottom currents in water depths of over 3,000 m.
Sediment Sources and Drainage Patterns

Due to the mixing and unidentifiable origin of clay minerals after sediment transport
(Hagerty 1970), Davies (1972) used heavy minerals to trace the origin and source of the
sediments in the Gulf of Mexico and categorized five mineral assemblages in the surficial
sediments. The ma] or sources of sediments from the north are the Rio Grande, Colorado,
Brazos, and Mississippi Rivers. By running a watershed model based on the bathymetry,
Liu and Bryant (1999) also delineated similar drainage paths in the Gulf of Mexico.
13'igure 3.6 illustrates the sediment provinces and drainage patterns of the northern Gulf
of Mexico. Four drainage systems were identified: western, central, northeastern, and
southeastern continental slope areas. All drainage patterns align well to today's major
river systems in the northern Gulf: sediment sources from the west (Rio Grande system),
the northwest (Brazos and Colorado Rivers systems), and the north (Mississippi River
system). The carbonate-dominated platforms in the eastern and southern Gulf of Mexico
show fewer drainage paths and suggest less contribution from the southern rim. These
drainage systems merge basinward and can be up to 500 km long. The western system
includes E-W oriented patterns on the East Mexico Slope and sinuous NW-SE oriented
patterns on the Perdido Slope. In the East Mexico Slope area, the paths coincide with
gully/canyon structures. On the Perdido Slope, the Perdido and Alaminos Canyons are
the major tributaries at the base of the slope. The drainage paths tend to move around salt
domes on the upper slope of the Perdido Canyon. On the upper slope of the Alaminos
Canyon, the paths tend to go through the intraslope intralobal basins.
In the area located offshore Texas and Louisiana, sinuous drainage patterns are mainly in
the N-S directions. The path that crosses Keathley Canyon is straight and follows a
major fault that formed the canyon (Lee 1990). The drainage paths to the east of
Keathley Canyon are highly irregular and are located between salt domes on the upper
slope, and through the intras lope supralobal canyons of the lower continental slope. In
Farnella Canyon, the drainage path cuts through the slope and the canyon, while in other
canyons, such as Bryant, and Green Canyons, the drainage paths originate at the mouth of
the canyons.
38
W97 W96 W95 W94 W9 W92 W91 W90 wor WW W87 w5 W84 WB
jrrNA0
Prec*lon: AJ6ars Equel Area
F9i1 StVIOajd Paii9a: 26 24 CN
S9cr4a 9an6ar6PemIIeI: 29 92 0019
emreMeriaan 1 W
Dala $69169:
Se Beam (NGDO:TAMIJI Bid
ty.MoSIrnics $iyeriT 9191 1992: NG
Sun Shading: azimuth 45 ee9aIIon 45
26
0 50 IDO
I<i10118l9r5
o 0 60
-. Miien
N
N-
Figure 3.6. Bathymetry derived drainage patterns in the northern Gulf of Mexico deepwater environment. The black line is the drainage. The
drainage meanders and passes in between salt domes on the upper slope. The drainage is straighter and traverses basins on the
lower contInental slope. The light-shaded background is the bathymetry map as shown in Figure 3.1
In the northeastern area, many drainage paths align in a NW-SE direction on the
Louisiana-Mississippi Slope and few paths align in an E-W direction on the West Florida
Slope. In the Mississippi Canyon area, the drainage path goes down the canyon and
swerves to the east at a water depth of about 2,800 rn. To the east of the Mississippi
Canyon, drainage paths tend to go around salt domes and the base of the Florida
Escarpment, and merge at a water depth of about 3,100 m. This merged drainage path
then goes between the Mississippi Fan and a series of topographic highs west of the
Florida Escarpment.
In the southeastern part of the Gulf, either due to the carbonate platforms or to the less
detailed topographical data available, the drainage paths are less sinuous. Generally, they
come down from the Florida Escarpment, the Campeche Escarpment, and the Mississippi
Fan. The paths go around the escarpments, fan, and then move south. There are also a
few paths that come down the Pourtales Escarpment, as well as the Tortugas Tenace.
Depocenters
During the Cenozoic, the maximum deposition occurred in depocenters that migrated
eastward and represented the fastest prograding shelf edge that are generally parallel to
present day's coastline (Murray 1952). In the lower Tertiary, the depocenter was in the
Rio Grande Embayment. In the middle Tertiary, the depocenter was in the Mississippi
Embayment (Shinn 1971; Woodbury et al. 1973). In the Eocene, the depocenter was in
the south Texas (Woodbury et al. 1973). In the Miocene, the depocenter was in the south
Louisiana (Woodbury et al. 1973) and in the Pliocene, in the Vermilion to West Delta
central shelf areas (Woodbury et al. 1973). In the Pleistocene, the depocenter was in the
High Island Area to the South Timbalier outer-shelf and tipper-slope areas (Shinn 1971).
The present shelf edge at a water depth of 200 m is a Pleistocene depositional feature
(Moore and Curray 1963; Lehner 1969; Woodbury et al. 1973). Figure 3.7 illustrates the
location of the depocenters and shelf edge location through time.
In the major depocenters of the northern Gulf, subsidence can be up to 17,000 m (Hardin
1962). But in general the supply of sediment has been greater than the subsidence rate,
and despite the transgression and regression that has occurred in the Cenozoic, the shelf
edge still prograded basinward by as much as 402 km with an average of 5 to 6 hmmy
(Hardin 1962; Woodbury et al. 1973; Coleman et al. 1986). The shelf edge prograded
rapidly from late Miocene to middle Pliocene for about 80 km (Woodbury et al. 1973).
During late Pliocene and Pleistocene, the depocenter shifled over 320 km southward
while the shelf edge prograded 80 km southward (Woodbury et al. 1973).
The average Holocene sediment thickness on the continental slope in the northwestern
Gulf of Mexico is 70 cm, which gives an average sedimentation rate of 4.6 cm1,000 yr4.
Roberts et al. (1986) and Beard (1973) documented a much higher rate at 20 to
30 cml,000 yf1, on the slope and in the deep Gulf.
In the Quaternary, there were about 300 m thick of sediments were deposited on the shelf
(Lehner 1969). In the same period, as much as 3,600 in of sediments were deposited
offshore Texas and Louisiana, especially in the salt withdrawal intraslope basins
40
DLun, NAD2
ProctIon: Aria -
Fmt Stndajd P.riReI: 28 24 OO
&811n8u14P1r8J1u129 I200N
GMiddr81 W
Figure 3.7. The location of depocenters through Cenozoic in the northern Gulf of Mexico (Adapted from: Woodbury et al. 1973). The light-shaded
background is the bathymetry map as shown in Figure 3.1.
(Coleman et al. 1986), and up to 3,000 m thick of sediments were deposited in the
vicinity of Mississippi Fan. Out of 983 million tons/year of sediments to the Gulf,
775 million tons are detrital (Moody 1967). The sands and silts cover over 35% of the
Gulf of Mexico (Davies 1972).
Continental Slope Basins

The Gulf of Mexico is unique in the construction and evolution of its northwestern
continental margin and in particular the continental slope off Texas and Louisiana
(Figure 3.1). The processes that determined the physiography of the continental slope
are almost completely dominated by the halokinesis of allochthonous salt. Bathymetric
maps constructed by Texas A&M University (Bryant et al. 1990) and maps produced
from multibeam bathymetric data collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) and the National Ocean Service (NOS), reveal the presence of
over 90 intraslope basins with relief in excess of 150 m. Intraslope-interlobal and
intraslope-supralobal basins occupy the upper/middle and lower continental slope
respectively.
Gealy (1955) originally interpreted the origin of the huminocky topography of the
northwestern Gulf of Mexico as the result of gravity slumping. Later, extensive seismic
surveying and drilling revealed the role that salt plays in controlling the geomorphic and
geological features of the area (Moore and Curray 1963; Lehner 1969; Garrison and
Martin 1973; Buffler et al. 1978; Humphris 1978; Watkins et al. 1978; Martin 1980b;
Buffler 1983; Winker and Edwards 1983; Shaub et al. 1984; Bouma et al. 1986; Worrall
and Snelson 1989).
The continental slope off Texas and Louisiana, the major petroleum province in the Gulf
of Mexico, is 180 to 240 km wide and covers the area from the continental shelf break to
the continental rise south of the Sigsbee Escarpment (Figure 3.1). Water depths in the
area range from approximately 200 to 3,400 m. The regional slope angle of the
continental slope from 100 to 3,000 m water depth is about 10. Surprisingly, the
maximum submarine slope angles are reached on the flanks of the intraslope basins and
not on the Sigsbee Escarpment. The slope basins are the major sediment depocenters of
the slope and most hydrocarbon deposits will be found in the basins and in sub-salt areas.
The average relief of intraslope basins is 309 m, while the average east-west dimension is
12.2 km. The slope angles of submarine flanks of the intraslope basins can obtain angles
in excess of 40°, too steep in most cases for any present day engineered structures. The
average angle of the continental slope off Texas and Louisiana is between 8° to 9°. The
slope of the Sigsbee Escarpment averages 15° to 20° but can reach up to 30° locally.
Of the multitude of intraslope basins on the continental slope, Gyre, Orca and Pigmy
Basins are the most popular researched areas. Orca and Pigmy Basins have been drilled
during Deep Sea Drilling Program (DSDP) Leg 96 (Bouma et al. 1986). The popularity
of Urea Basin, an interlobal basin, is its unique brine pool that occupies the western and
northern portion of the basin. The brine pool is the result of salt leaching to seawater
42
Bryant nd Liu: Geology
from the shallow subbottom exposure of salt near the top of diapirs. The anoxic
environment created by the trapped brine preserves biogenic material and is conducive to
the formation of black shales. Orca Basin was formed between coalescing diapirs, while
Pigmy and Gyre Basins were developed by the coalescing of salt canopies.
Salt Induced Physiography of the

Upper and Middle Continental Slope
Detailed bathymetry proves to be extremely valuable in displaying characteristics of salt
structural styles based on multichannel seismic interpretation. In general, bathymetric
highs correspond to shallow salt structures buried less than 1 second (two way travel
time) below the seafloor. Bathymetric lows correspond to thicker sediment-filled
intraslope basins (Bryant et al. 1990). The bathymetry of the upper/middle slope consists
of relatively flat ridges and basin floors separated by intraslope escarpments. The
intraslope escarpments have relief up to 500 m across, slopes between 6° and 12°, and in
some instances in excess of 40°. Ridges correspond to laterally spreading, flat-topped
salt tongues overlain by thin sediments (100 to 500 msec).
Figure 3.8 shows multichannel seismic lines, across the Pigmy Basin area that traverses a
salt tongue spreading over the basin. The salt tongue has an asymmetrical lens shape and
clearly resolved base. Its internal seismic character is reflection-free except for multiple
energy reflecting between the top of salt and the seafloor. The leading edges of salt occur
along the base of the escarpments, typically within 200 msec of the seafloor.
Stratigraphic reflections diverge around these leading edges, presumably at the depth of
lateral intrusion. The deformation front represents the veneer of sediment undercut and
uplifted in the vicinity of the advancing salt front. The implied depths of intrusion (100
to 200 m) are in agreement with estimates by Nelson and Fairchild (1989) based on the
thicknesses of onlapped deformation fronts from buried examples in the Mississippi
Canyon area. Little, if any, onlap onto the deformation fronts is observed in this vicinity,
suggesting salt tongues are actively intruding the shallow subsurface. Figure 3.8 shows
the very thick section of sediment within Pigmy Basin.
Basically, the upper/middle Louisiana Continental Slope consists ofvery large salt domes
and salt ridges separated by trough arid valley-like basins. The salt structures responsible
for the large domes and ridges include deeply rooted massifs, and laterally spreading salt
tongues. Each style of salt emplacement has distinctive bathymetric characteristics.
Deeply-rooted massifs are common on the upper and middle slope. The ridges are
commonly elongated in a NW-SE direction, a prominent trend across the northern Gulf of
Mexico, which appears to correspond with a deep crustal fabric. The upper surfaces of
the ridges are generally uneven or domed at various points along the ridges. The adjacent
interdomal basins tend to have a fairly rounded cross-sectional shape. The sediment fill
within the basins dips away along the ridge flanks, reflecting both doming within the
ridges and salt withdrawal from below. The resulting seafloor physiography is very
complex and is well illustrated by a map of the Pigmy Basin area in Figure 3.9.
43
44
Figure 3.9. Bathymetric contour map of the Pigmy Basin. The contour interval is 50 m. The location of the seismic line from Figure 3.8 is shown
in black line.
Bryant and Liv: Geology
There are tens of intraslope-interlobal basins within the area covered by Figure 3.10.
The basins are very irregular in shape and have steep sidewalls and generally flat basin
floors. Figure 3.9 is a bathymetric map of Pigmy Basin. The flanks of Pigmy Basin
outline the limit of coalescing salt structures, as show in the seismic profile in Figure 3.8.
A good portion of the basin area consists of fairly high angled sidewalls; the stability
characteristics of the basin walls are totally unknown. The flat nature of the basin floor
would indicate the possibility that density flows played a role in their development.
Certainly, the majority of sediments within the basin are the products of turbidity current
activity during the Cenozoic. Very little is being deposited within the basin at the present
time. The sediments that make up the flanks of the basin are high water content
smectite-rich clays that may be very gassy as was the sediments recovered on
DSDP Leg 96, Hole 619 from the Pigmy Basin floor. Installation of seabed engineering
structures within the basin would necessitate the determination of the role that creep and
general slope stability and instability would play in the generation of density flows
resulting from slope failure.
Salt Induced Physiography of the Lower Continental Slope

As stated before, regional salt sheets cover much of the lower Louisiana and portions of
the Texas Continental Slope. A salt nappe complex apparently accounts for much of the
salt across the lower slope. The Sigsbee Escarpment represents the composite leading
edge of the complex (Figure 3.5). Thickness of the salt nappes locally exceeds 6 km
(Wonall and Snelson 1989) (Figure 3.4). Across other areas of the lower slope the salt
sheets are canopies made up of convergent salt tongues. In both cases the shallow salt,
and likewise the bathymetry, is generally flat and relatively smooth across the top.
Figure 3.10 is a physiographic map of the lower continental slope off Louisiana known
as the Vaca Basin area, that shows the nature of the lower slope.
Salt canopies can be located and are characterized by narrow, steep-faced valleys along
internal suture zones between constituent salt tongues. Bathymetric relief across the
Jower continental slope occurs mainly within isolated, generally elliptical supralobal
basins. These basins are predominantly filled by Plio-Pleistocene sediments subsiding
into the underlying salt sheets. They are generally asymmetrical, and the deepest points
within the basins generally correspond to points of maximum sediment fill. The seismic
profile in Figure 3.11 cuts across Vaca Basin and other lower slope basins and illustrates
the nature of intraslope-supralobal basinal structure.
The supralobal basins generally display continuous, high-amplitude reflections

alternating with low-amplitude facies. Similar observations have been described by
Armentrout (1987), Weimer (1989), and Lee (1990), and have been attributed to a
Plio-Pleistocene glacio-eustatic cyclicity. The high-amplitude reflections tend to drape
the area, and are thought to represent, condensed intervals of pelagic and hemipelagic
sediments within transgressive and highstand systems tracts. The low-amplitude facies
onlap the condensed intervals and expand towards the focus of basin subsidence
46
Pigniy Basin
®rca Basin
Beaumont
Basin
Vaca Basin
Cortez
Canyon
a)
E
q,.
/
BryantGanyon
Figure 3.10. Perspectiveviewoftheseafloor relief of the middle and lower continental sbpe, northern Gulf of Mexico. On the middle slope, the
relief is typified by asymmetric and rugged basins, for example, Pigmy Basin. On the lower slope, the relief is typified by symmetric
and smoothed basins, for example, Vaca Basin. The vertical exaggeration is lox.
91. 54W 91 48W 9V 42W
26 18N 26 18N
26 12N 26 12N
26 O6'N 26 OGN
Figure 3.11. Bathymetric contour map of the Vaca Basin. The contour nterval is 50 m. The 'ocation of the seismic line from Figure 3.4 is shown
in black line.
suggesting differential sedimentation within the lower siope depressions by

sedimentgravity or density flows during lowstands of the eustatic cycles.
Basin subsidence is accomplished by evacuation of underlying salt. Subsidence histories

are commonly episodic. This is particularly evident in Vaca Basin where initial basin
subsidence appears to be relatively slow and accompanied by the accumulation of
relatively concordant strata. These older strata flank the basin margins at high angles,
indicating large amounts of post-depositional subsidence. An oulap surface overlying a
series of high-amplitude reflections seems to mark a point where basin subsidence
decelerates. The onlapping strata flank the basin margins at lower angles, principally
filling a deep, pre-existing depression. A possible scenario is that subsidence of the Vaca
Basin was initially controlled by differential loading caused by lateral variations in
sediment thickness, but while the sediments were still relatively buoyant compared to the
salt. Sediment densities increase with depth due to compaction, whereas salt densities are
essentially constant with depth. Sediment thickness increased until a critical thickness
was reached where average sediment densities exceeded that of salt. At this point,
subsidence proceeds rapidly until salt is completely evacuated and the sediment fill
bottoms out against the base of salt. Rapid basin subsidence should cease, but the
depression formed by the rapid subsidence will continue filling up with sediments,
onlapping the basin margins. In order for subsidence to continue, the average density of
the infilling sediments must be larger than that of the salt. The density of high porosity
smectite-rich clays typical of the Gulf of Mexico region have relatively low densities and
are generally underconsolidated, making it difficult to achieve the necessary average
densities to exceed that of salt except at very deep burial depths. It is difficult to envision
such clays initiating the necessary forces of subsidence in the thin sediment fills of high
relief basins such as Vaca Basin. In contrast, sand-rich sediments can reach average
densities exceeding that of salt at fairly shallow depths. Thus, it is suggested that the
intraslope-supralobal basins may contain large amounts of sand at depth within their fill;
an interesting and perhaps an important aspect related to the petroleum reservoir
characteristics of intraslope-supralobal basins. The physiography of the lower slope is
comparatively smooth, such as across the Vaca Basin area. Bathymetric relief exists
mainly as rounded depressions corresponding to supralobal or suprasalt sedimentary
basins subsiding into a regionally extensive salt sheet locally 3 to 4 km in thickness. The
supralobal basins have average slopes generally between 60 and 8°, but locally up to 300.
Figure 3.10 is a bathymetric map of Vaca Basin showing the very bowl shaped
appearance of the basin and the smooth round basin walls. The basin appears, as would a
ball pressed into soft mud.
Geohaza rds
The engineering and geological constraints on the continental slope off Texas and
Louisiana related to hydrocarbon recovery will require both novel geological and
geophysical surveys and engineering methods to economically overcome. Significant
seafloor engineering problems in deep waters include slope instabilities, both short-term
(slump) and long-term (creep), pipeline spanning problems, mass transport from
49
unknown causes, and unusual stiffness and strength conditions (Hooper and Dunlap
1989). The geohazards (engineering and geologic constraints) present in and on the
central and western continental slope are many in number and are mainly due to the
activity of salt and rapid sedimentation.
The main geohazards on the slope and resulting effects are as follows:
Faults - sediment tectonics, halokinesis

Slope Stability - slope steepening, slumps, creep, debris flow
Gassy Sediments sediment strength reduction, hydrates, sediment liquefaction
Fluid and Gas Expulsion Features
Diapiric Structures salt, mud, hydrates
Seafloor Depressions - blowouts, pockrnarks, seeps
Seafloor Features - sediment waves, differential channel fill, brine-low channels,
seabed furrows
Shallow Waterfiow
Deep Water High-Velocity Currents - mega-furrows, sea-bed erosion
The near-surface geology and topography (the area of most concern in relationship to
submarine slope stability) of the continental slope off Texas and Louisiana are a function
of the interplay between episodes of rapid shelf edge progradation and contemporaneous
modification of the depositional sequence by diapirism and mass movement processes.
Many slope sediments have been uplifted, folded, fractured, and faulted by diapiric
action. Oversteepening on the basin flanks and resulting mass movements have resulted
in the appearance of highly overconsolidated sediments underlying extremely weak
pelagic sediments. The construction of the Mississippi Canyon is in part a function of
sidewall slumping arid pelagic drape of low shear strength sediments. In contrast, slope
oversteepening and subsequent mass movement have resulted in high pore pressures in
rapidly deposited debris flows on the upper slope and on basin floors, resulting in
unexpected decreased shear strengths. Biogenic and thex-mogenic gas induces the
accumulation of hydrates and underconsolidated gassy sediments, which are common on
the upper slope. On the middle and lower slope, gassy sediments are not common except
in the basins that do not have a salt base such as Beaumont Basin. The salt nappe
restricts the upward movement of gas from below.
Holocene and Pleistocene sediment cores recovered from the continental slope off Texas
and Louisiana from conventional piston coring and from DSDP activities reveal the
presence of unconsolidated gassy clays, silty clays, sands, and clayey sands, many
containing gas hydrates.
The intraslope intralobal basins located on the upper slope range in water depths from
1,500 to 2,200 m. The bathymetry of the Central and Western areas is shown in
Figure 3.2. The bathymetry of the upper to middle continental slope area consists of
relatively fiat ridges and basin floors separated by intraslope escarpments. The intraslope
basin escarpments have relief up to 700 m and slopes between 50 to 300 and in specific
locations up to 50°. Ridges that rim the basins correspond to late laterally spreading
50
flat-topped salt tongues overlain by a thin sediment cover (Bryant et al. 1995). The
deeper portions of intraslope intralobal basins are salt free and exhibit a dissected
topography consisting of a multitude of small submarine canyons along the walls. Cores
taken on the wall of some basins indicate that as much as 3 m of sediment has been
removed by slumping. The intraslope-supralobal basin on the lower continental slope
where the physiography is comparatively smooth (Figure 3.1) shows that the relief exists
mainly as a rounded depression. The formation of basins on the lower slope is where
subsidence is accomplished by evacuation of underlying salt (salt withdrawal).
The submarine canyons along the Sigsbee Escarpment, Alaminos, Keathley, Bryant,
Cortez, Farnella and Green Canyon are the result of the coalescing of salt canopies, the
migration of the salt over the abyssal plain and the erosion of the escarpment during
periods of low sea stand (Bryant et al. 1992). The bathymetry of the canyons is
illustrated in Figure 3.1. In addition to the canyons that form along the escarpment,
numerous small submarine canyons and gullies line the escarpment along with large
slumps. Seaward of the canyons submarine fans of various sizes extends out onto the
continental
50
rise. A significant portion of the canyon walls and the escarpment contains
slopes of to 10° and slopes in excess of 15° are not rare. Large slope failures are
present in the Green Canyon area.
The maj or faults on the continental slope are associated with massive accumulation of
sediments and are called growth faults. These growth faults form contemporaneously
and continuously with sediment deposition. The growth faults are found mostly on the
upper continental slope and on the continental shelf where sediment accumulation is the
thickest (see Figure 3.2). The most common types of fault on the middle and lower
continental slope are "groups of geometrically classified fault families and fault welds
that are kinematically and genetically linked to each other and to associated salt bodies
and welds. Linked fault systems can contain extensional, contractional, and strike-slip
components. Extensional fault families are formed by basinward translation, subsidence
into salt, or folding. Those fault families that accommodate basinward translation are
balanced by salt extrusion or contractional fault families" (Rowan et al. 1999). Rowan et
al. related five associations of linked fault systems that are directly related to five types of
salt systems: autochthonous salt (salt in place), stepped counterregiona!, roho, salt-stock
canopy, and salt nappe. Faulting resulting from the fonnation of salt diapirs from
autochthonous salt is the most common type fault on the upper slope while faulting from
salt-stock canopy and salt nappe are most common on the middle and lower continental
slope. Extensive faulting can be found on the rim of most intraslope intralobal and
supralobal basin on the middle and lower continental slope. The faults are extensional
faults caused by the upward movement of salt resulting from pressures created by
sediment accumulation within basins. This type of faulting results in the occurrence of a
large number of small faults in the area of the seafloor under going extension. In some
areas of the slope the upward migration of salt results in the seafloor being totally
fractured (faulted) and continuously displaced.
51
Biyant and Llu: Geology
Portions of some of the submarine canyons, like Bryant Canyon, are being filled with salt
due to the loading of the salt by sediments on the margins of the canyon. The salt
migrates upward, filling the canyon that was created by turbidity current flow active
during times of low-sea stand. The migration of salt into the canyon may occur at the
rate of centimeters per year.
On the middle and lower continental slope, salt may be very close to the seafloor in
certain areas and, on features such as the salt plug called "Green Knoll," salt is exposed at
the seafloor and is being dissolved by seawater, resulting in the collapse of the cap of the
knoll. Iii Orca Basin, an intraslope intralobal basin, salt is exposed at the bottom of the
northern portion of the basin and a famous brine pool has formed within the basin.
Where salt is close to the seafloor, for the emplacement of structures that require
foundation piles, new engineering methods will be necessary to accommodate such
structures on salt.
Water currents can be a problem to structures on the continental slope, but they may be a
major problem to structures such as platforms, bottom assemblies and pipelines at the
base of the Sigsbee Escarpment starting in water depths as shallow as 1,200 in and as
deep as 3,300 in. Recent studies have revealed the presence of large mega-ftLrrows at the
base of the Sigsbee Escarpment. These large bedforms, 20 to 30 in wide and as deep as
10 m, occur along the base of the Sigsbee Escarpment and extend to a distance of 20 km
south of the escarpment. They are the result of high velocity bottom currents occurring
along the base of the escarpment (see Chapter 4). The rnega-fttrrows have been found
extending from 90° to 92.5° W Longitudes, and probably extend westward beyond that
location and possibly as far west as Alaminos Canyon.
Shallow waterfiow, also known as geopressured sands, is the uncontrolled flow of sand
and water that can create significant sediment pile up at the welihead. It is the results of
compaction disequilibrium or differential compaction and usually occurs at 360 to 530 m
below the seafloor. It is more likely to occur on the upper and middle slope and less
likely to occur above the salt nappe, the tabular salt blocking the escape of overpressures
from below.
Table 3.1 summarizes the properties related to geohazards of upper, middle, and lower
continental slopes intraslope basins and lower slope canyons and the Sigsbee Escarpment.
52
Table 3.1. Engineering constraints and possible geohazards of intraslope basins and canyons
Upper to Middle Slope Intraslope Interlobal Basins

Steep sidewalls average 10° to 20°, maximum 50°
Small submarine canyons and gullies dissect basin escarpments
Basin wall sediments may be unstable and undergoing modification by creep and slump
processes
Low shear strength debris flow sediments on basin floor
Basin floor subject to debris flows from side wall slumping
a Stiff sediments on higby faulted ridges between basins
Hydrates, gas sweeps, carbonate bioherms and chemosynthetic organisms may be present
Basins may contain low shear strength gassy anoxic sediments
Isolated basins subject to formation of brine pools
Basin sediments underconsolidated at shallow subbottom depths
Lower Slope Entraslope-Supralobal Basins

Elevated faulted ridges between basins
Elevated ridge along basin rim
Basins are bowl shaped with low angle basin floor
Soft surficial sediments within basin
Structures on basin floor subject to debris flow
Basin sediments underconsolidated at shallow subbottorn depths
Lower Slope Canyons and Escarpments

Side walls average 100 to l5, maximum 30
Small submarine canyons and gullies dissect escarpment and smaller canyon escarpments
Canyons and escarpment structurally active from effects of halokinesis
Very rugged topography
Slump deposits and slope failure common
Small submarine fans on canyon floor foimed from debris flows and turbidity currents
In very deep water
Sediments underconsolidated at shallow subbottom depths
High velocity bottom currents and mega-furrows present at base of Sigsbee Escarpment
53
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and potential. AAPG Memoir 15(2):824-835.
Shokes, R.F., P.K. Trabant, and B.J. Presley. 1977. Anoxic, hypersaline basin in the northern
Gulf of Mexico. Science 196:1,443-1,446.
Simmons, G.R. 1992. The regional distribution of salt in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico:
styles of emplacement and implications for early tectonic history. Unpublished Ph.D.
dissertation, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. 180 pp.
Trusheim, F. 1960. Mechanism of salt migration in northern Germany. AAPG Bulletin
44: 1,5 19-1,540.
van den Bold, M.C., T.F. Moslow, and J.M. Coleman. 1987. Origin and timing of seafloor
erosion on the Louisiana continental slope. Gulf Coast Association of Geological
Societies Transactions 37:487-498.
Watkins, J.S., J.W. Ladd, R.T. Buffler, F.J. Shaub, M.H. Houston, and J.L. Worzel. 1978.
Occurrence and evolution of salt in the deep Gulf of Mexico, pp. 43-65. In: A.H. Bouma,
G.T. Moore, and J.M. Coleman (eds.), Framework, Facies and Oil-trapping
Characteristics of the Upper Continental Margin. AAPG Studies in Geology 7.
Weimer, P. 1989. Sequence stratigraphy, facies geometry, and depositional history of the
Mississippi Fan, Gulf of Mexico. AAPG Bulletin 74:425-453.
58
Weimer, P. and R.T. Buffler. 1989. Structural geology of the Mississippi Fan Foldbelt, deep
Gulf of Mexico Conference, pp. 146-147. SEPM Gulf Coast Section Tenth Annual
Research Foundation.
West, D.B. 1989. Models for salt deformation. Bulletin of the South Texas Geological Society
29:9.
Winker, C.D. 1982. Cenozoic shelf margins, northwestern Gulf of Mexico. Transactions Gulf
Coast Association of Geological Societies 32:427-448.
Winker, C.D. and M.B. Edwards. 1983. Unstable progradational clastic shelf margins. Special
Publication Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists 33:139-157.
Woodbury, 1-1.0., I.B. Murray, Jr., P.J. Pickford, and W.H. Akers. 1973. Pliocene and
Pleistocene depocenters, outer continental shelf, Louisiana and Texas. AAPG Bulletin
57:2,4282,439.
Worrall, D.M. and S. Snelson. 1989. Evolution of the northern Gulf of Mexico, with emphasis
on Cenozoic growth faulting and the role of salt. In: A.W. Bally and A.R. Palmer (eds.),
The Geology of North America- An Overview. GSA The Geology of North America
A:97-138.
59
Chapter 4: Physical Oceanography
Worth D. Nowlin, Ann F Jochens, Steven F DiMarco, and Robert 0. Reid
Introduction 61
Classical Hydrography 64
Low-Frequency, Local Wind Forcing 72
Surface Wind Waves 74
Forcing By Energetic, Episodic Wind Events 77
Loop Current Forcing and Eddy Activity 85
Sea Level and Tides 96
Currents in Deep Water 98
Deep, Barotropic Currents 99
High-speed, Subsurface-intensified Currents 102
Currents Responsible for Furrows 102
Effects of Shelf/Slope Canyons and Other Rough Topography 106
Numerical Modeling 107
Types of Models and Studies 107
Eddy Shedding Aspects 110
Other Skill Assessment 111
Status of Nowcast/Forecasts 112
Introduction
Although there have been many hydrographic measurements made in the Gulf of Mexico,
few surveys of the entire Gulf have been over short enough durations so that the data
could be combined to obtain nearly synoptic descriptions. Examples of such surveys are
those of Hidalgo 62-H-3, Geronimo cruises in the 1960's, and Kane 1969. The resulting
patterns are similar and illustrated by Figure 4.1 (after Nowlin 1972) based on the
Hidalgo 1962 cruise. Contours represent the streamlines of the surface geostrophic
surface currents relative to a 1,000-rn reference surface. These currents reflect the
medium to large-scale distributions of temperature and salinity, and thus density. This
pattern also is characteristic of time-averaged outputs from numerical models of the
circulation of the Gulf (e.g., see Huribert and Thompson 1980, 1982). Thus, this pattern
more nearly reflects the time-averaged, or background, circulation and not necessarily the
instantaneous currents at any specific time.
The flow lines entering the Gulf through the Yucatan Channel, turning clockwise, and
then exiting the Gulf into the Straits of Florida represent the Loop Current. That current
is a part of the western boundary current system of the North Atlantic, and it is the
principal current and source of energy for the circulation in the Gulf of Mexico. The
Loop Current may be confined to the southeastern Gulf of Mexico or it may extend well
into the northeastern or north central Gulf, with intrusions of Loop Current water even to
the shelf edge of Louisiana or of the Florida panhandle (see e.g., Huh et al. 1981;
Paluszkiewicz et al. 1983).
61
Now/in et al.: Physical Oceanography
'---c/, I.
\2P ( -
\(OO
''
VELOCITY DIAGRAM
':
\ .11
7
-'
.' \%
uU)
FOR 25° N. LATITUDE
Figure 4.1. Geopotential anomaly (dynamic m) of the sea surface relative to the 1,000-db surface,
constructed from Hidalgo 62-H-3 data collected February-March 1962. Stations shallower
than 11000 db, and for which extrapolation was used by Nowlin (1972) to estimate the
geopotential anomaly, are indicated by x's.
62
Closed rings of clockwise rotating (anticyclonic) water called Loop Current eddies
(LCEs) separate aperiodically from the Loop Current. Studies on the frequency of Loop
Current intrusions into the eastern Gulf and of the frequency of LCE separation (Sturges
1992, 1994; Sturges et al. 1993; Vukovich 1988, 1995) clearly show these to be chaotic
processes.
Currents associated with the Loop Current and its eddies extend at least to depths of
800 in, the sill depth of the Straits of FJorida; geostrophic shear is observed to extend to
the sill depth of Yucatan Channel (2,000 m). These features may have surface speeds of
150 to 200 cm-s1 or more; speeds of 10 cms' are not uncommon at 500 m (Cooper et al.
1990). Anticyclonic eddies separate from the Loop Current with frequencies peaked at
8 to 9 months and at 13 to 14 months (Sturges 1994). Lifetimes of these Loop Current
eddies can be one year or more (Elliot 1982). Therefore their effects can persist at one
location for long periodsweeks or even months (see e.g., Nowlin et al. 1998a,b)if the
eddies remain stationary over such periods.
The Gulf may also be forced remotely by the advection of potential vorticity.
Connections in mesoscale variability between the tropical Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, and
Gulf of Mexico were studied using simulation from three ocean models by Murphy et al.
(1999). They found that (primarily ariticyclonic) eddies formed in the Caribbean, in part
due to the advection of potential vorticity from the Atlantic, pass through the Caribbean
along a well defined corridor and may enter the Gulf via the Yucatan Channel. There is
some evidence that such Caribbean eddies may influence Loop Current eddy shedding or
other mesoscale variability in the Gulf.
In addition to currents associated with the Loop Currents and with mesoscale eddies and
their formation and decay, two significant long-period circulation features are believed to
be generated locally by the wind iii the Gulf. There is an ariticyclonic (clockwise
rotating) feature oriented about ENE-WSW with its western extent near 24°N off Mexico
and a cyclonic gyre centered near 20.8°N, 94.5°W ± 10 in the Bay of Campeche.
Atmospheric forcing also results in a variety of episodic or short-period ocean

phenomena. These include surface wind waves, near-inertial oscillations, diurnal
cycling, and energetic current surges. The forcing events include frontal passages,
extratropical cyclogenesis, tropical storms, and hurricanes.
The astronomical tides do not result in currents within the Gulf of much concern in open
water. Transports of water through the Straits of Florida and Yucatan Channel associated
with some of the principal tidal components are sizable, but not of direct concern to the
deepwater area of interest.
In summary, there are at least five classes of energetic currents in the deepwater portion
of the Gulf of Mexico of potential concern to those involved with offshore oil and gas
production and transportation. These classes are:
(1) currents resulting from energetic, episodic atmospheric events, including cold air
outbreaks, extratropical cyclones, and tropical cyclones such as hurricanes;
63
surface-intensified currents arising from the major surface circulation features (the
Loop Current, the anticyclonic LCEs derived therefrom, and both cyclonic and
anticyclonic eddies spun up in the Gulf);
currents extending from about 1,000 rn through the deeper water column with little
depth variation (e.g., those believed to be associated with topographic Rossby waves),
sometimes with bottom intensification;
high-speed, subsurface-intensified currents or jets; and
currents responsible for large, linear furrows discovered along the base of the
continental slope in some locations of the northwestern Gulf.
Data available for study of the hydrography and principal significant currents include
meteorological stations; shipboard estimations of weather, sea state, and ship drift; wave
measurements; oceanographic station data (STD/CTD/bottle measurements);
bathythermograph (BT), expendable bathythermograph (XBT), expendable
current-temperature-depth (XCTD), and air-dropped expendable bathythermograph
(AXBT) measurements; surface velocity estimates and temperature estimates from
satellite-reporting surface drifters; time series of currents, temperature, and salinity at
fixed locations using single-point current meters and acoustic Doppler current profilers
(ADCPs); current measurements in the upper several hundred meters using shipboard
ADCPs; expendable current profilers (XCP); tide gauges; inverted echo sounders (IES);
pumped seawater systems collecting and analyzing samples from underway vessels; and
satellite-derived measurements of sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface height
anomaly (SSHA), and sea surface color. For some of these observations, compilations of
variability for the Gulf of Mexico have been prepared. Examples include the monthly
fields of surface and upper layer subsurface temperatures compiled from BTs and XBTs
by Robinson (1973); the representations of steric sea level height around the Gulf by
Whitaker (1971); compilations of temperature, salinity, oxygen, and phosphate
measurements in the Gulf by Churgin and Halminski (1974); or wind fields over the Gulf
by Rhodes et al. (1985, 1989).
Classical Hydrography
Although surface waters of the Gulf of Mexico are greatly modified by heat and
freshwater exchanges through the surface, river discharges, and wind mixing, no
subsurface water masses of consequence are thought to be formed locally. Instead, water
masses originate mainly in the Atlantic Ocean and are modified as they spread through
the Caribbean Sea into the Gulf. These water masses enter the Gulf through the Yucatan
Channel from the Yucatan Basin.
Sill depths of both the Caribbean and Gulf control which water masses eventually enter
the Gulf. Using property distributions, McLellan and Nowlin (1963) estimated the sill
depth in Yucatan Channel to be between 1,650 and 1,900 in. Bryant and Bryant (1990)
show a Yucatan sill depth greater than 1,750 m but less than 2,000 in. Thus, global ocean
water masses in depths greater than these cannot penetrate into the Gulf.
64
Now/in et aL: Physical Oceanography
In the Caribbean, extrema in properties may be used to label four water masses in the
upper 1,000 m: Subtropical Underwater, 18°C Sargasso Sea Water, Tropical Atlantic
Central Water, and Antarctic Intermediate Water. The source regions for these waters are
discussed in Morrison and Nowlin (1982). Small amounts of upper North Atlantic Deep
Water may enter the Caribbean between 1,100 and 1,600 m through the
Anegada-Jungfern Passage and between Hispaniola and Jamaica. However, they are
mixed with Caribbean Mid-Water (Metcalf 1976) before entering the Gulf. The
characteristic water properties, depths, and isopycnal surfaces for the property extrema of
these water masses are given in Table 4.1.
Morrison arid Nowlin (1977) described the water masses found in the Loop Current of the
eastern Gulf; and Morrison et al. (1983) described the water masses and properties found
offshore in the western Gulf. The characteristic water properties, depths, isopycnal
surfaces, and range of values in the extrema cores are given in Table 4.1. These are
briefly described below, together with a description of surface water and deep basin
water.
Surface salinities in the Gulf generally are between 36.0 and 36.5. In waters bounded by
the Loop Current, surface or near-surface pockets of low salinity (<36.0) water have been
observed and are thought to be derived from low salinity Caribbean surface waters
(Schroeder et al. 1974; Morrison and Nowlin 1977). Low-salinity surface waters also
have been observed intruding over the shelf edges (e.g., <33 off Texas-Louisiana and <35
off Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama). These are derived mainly from the Atchafalaya-
Mississippi River system (Parr 1935; Schroeder etal. 1974).
The Subtropical Underwater is identified in the Caribbean Sea and in the Loop Current of
the eastern Gulf of Mexico by a subsurface salinity maximum at 150 to 250 m centered
about 25.40 kgm3 in sigma-U. In the Loop Current, maximum salinity values in this
core are 36.7 to 36.8. Most of the water in the western Gulf of Mexico has a less
pronounced upper salinity maximumtypically from 36.4 to 36.5, with even higher
values seen from stations taken in recently-detached anticyclonic Loop Current rings that
moved into the region. As the waters of the Loop Current enter the Gulf, those along its
western boundary are vertically mixed by the interaction of the current with bathymetry,
resulting in a flattening of the pronounced subsurface salinity maximum associated with
the Subtropical Underwater source of those waters (Nowlin 1972). Moreover, after
separation, Loop Current eddies eventually spin down in the Gulf. That process entails
mixing, which likewise reduces the salinity at the maximum and may spread the lesser
maximum over a larger range of depths-0 to 250 m according to Morrison et al. (1983).
65
Table 4.1. Water masses of the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico
Eastern Caribbean' Eastern Gulf of Mexico2 Western Gulf of Mexico3

Water Mass Depth m cr kgm Feature Depth m kgm' Feature Range Depthm kgm Feature Range
SUW-LC 150-250 25A0 S 150-250 25.40 Sm 36.7-36.8
SUW 150250 25.40 Smax 36.4-36.5 0250 25.40 Smax 36.4-36.5
18°CW 200400 26.50 O2max 200-400 26.50 O2max 3.6-3.8 mLL'
TACW 400-700 27.15 02, 400-700 27.15 03 2.85-3.25 mLU' 250400 27.15 02mm 2.5-2.9 mLU'
AA1W 600-800 27.30 NO3], na na NO3m, na 500700 27.30 NO3 max 29-35 ig-atL'
AAIW 700900 27.40 PO4max 700-900 27.40 PO4max 1.8-2.5 tg-atL' 600-800 2740 PO4, 1.7-2.5 tg-at'L'
AAIW 600-900 27.40 S, 800-1000 27.50 34.86-34.89 700-800 27.50 Smin 3 4. 8 8-34.89
AAIW 8001000 27.50 Sj03max 27.50 SjO3max * 27.50 Sj03max *
IJNADW 11001600 27.70 Smax
at sill 27.75 SiO3mjn
at sill 27.75 PO411
at sill 27.75 NO3 mm
MIX** 900-1200 27.70 S03max 23-25 .LgatL' 1000-1100 27.70 Sj03mx 24-2 8 ig-atL'
- Morrison and Nowlin 1982 2 - Nowlin and McLellan 1967; Morrison and Nowlin 1977
3 - Nowlin and McLellan 1967; Morrison et al. 1983 na data not available for the study
SUW-LC = Subtropical Underwater within the Loop Current and Caribbean Sea
SUW = Subtropical Underwater in the Gulf but outside the Loop Current
18°C W= 18°C Sargasso Sea Water
TACW = Tropical Atlantic Central Water
AAIW = Antarctic Intermediate Water
UNADW = Upper North Atlantic Deep Water
* *MIX = Mixture of low silicate UNADW and very high silicate Caribbean Mid-Water
*high SiO3 in AAIW and MIX waters results in broad SiO, maxirnurri approximately from 27.50 to 27.70
In the Caribbean Sea and Loop Current, the water mass below Subtropical Underwater is
18°C Sargasso Sea Water. It is found at depths from 200 to 400 m and is identified by an
oxygen maximum centered about 26.5 kgm3 in sigma-O. Oxygen values greater than
4.2 rnL-U1 are found in the Caribbean near entrances of this water from the greater North
Atlantic. Within the Loop Current, oxygen maxima are only between 3.6-3.8 rnLL1.
Remnants of this water can be identified by weak relative oxygen maxima with values
slightly greater than 3 mLL' near sigma-0 of 26.5 kgm3 in some western Gulf stations,
but oxygen is not a useful tracer there.
Tropical Atlantic Central Water is identified by relative minima in vertical profiles of

dissolved oxygen. In the Caribbean Sea and Loop Current, it is found from 400 to 700 iii
and identified by oxygen values below 3 mLL' centered about 27.15 kgm3 in sigma-U.
This water is clearly seen with similar characteristics at western Gulf stations although at
depths closer to 400 m.
Beneath the Tropical Atlantic Central Water and extending over a vertical range of 700 to
1,200 in are remnants of the Antarctic Intermediate Water. This water is identified in the
Caribbean and Loop Current by a nitrate maximiun, a phosphate maximum, and a salinity
minimum found at increasing depths. This water is clearly seen in the western Gulf with
similar extrema, but at shallower depths ranging from 500 to 1,100 m.
The silicate maximum associated with Antarctic Intermediate Water also is found
generally beneath the salinity minimum in the Caribbean. By the time this water mass
reaches the Gulf of Mexico, this silicate maximum has been masked by the presence of
very high silicate waters below it. In both the eastern and western Gulf, silicates are high
(-23 to 25 Lg-atL1) throughout the 27.50 to 27.70 sigma-U range. Those at the 27.50
level can be associated with Antarctic Intermediate Water. Those at deeper levels to
27.70 result from a mixture in the Caribbean Sea of low silicate upper North Atlantic
Deep Water and the very high silicate Caribbean Mid-Water beneath it (Morrison et al.
1983). These high concentrations are attributed to veiy slow renewal of the Caribbean
Sea deep waters and re-solution of silicate from sediments (Richards 1958; Metcalf 1976;
Morrison et al. 1983).
Waters of the deep basin of the Gulf from below the sill depth to the bottom exhibit no
discernible horizontal variations and only small vertical gradients in potential temperature
and salinity (McLellan and Nowlin 1963; Nowlin and McLellan 1967). Using a number
of data sets from different cruises, similar results were found for dissolved oxygen by
Nowlin et al. (1969; they also concluded that the dissolved oxygen data of McLellan and
Nowlin [1963] were faulty). Observations below the sill depth had a mean potential
temperature of about 402°C, a mean salinity of 34.972, and a mean dissolved oxygen of
5.0 mLL1 (McLellan and Nowlin 1963; Nowlin et al. 1969). The lack of gradients
suggests either that basin water has a common source or the residence time is great
enough to erode away any horizontal gradients by exchange processes (Nowlin 1972).
The potential temperature versus salinity relationships from stations on the Gulf and
Caribbean sides of the Yucatan sill depth are very similar, which is consistent with
67
possible present-day displacement of deep Gulf waters by Caribbean Sea waters (Nowlin
1972).
Shown in Figure 4.2 are composite plots of temperature vs salinity, temperature vs.
depth, and salinity vs. depth for the winter cruise 62-H-3 that covered the entire Gulf.
Seen in these plots is the large range of near-surface values, especially because sampling
extended over the shelves. Also seen are rather large ranges of depths at which specific
values of temperature or salinity are found in the main pycnocline and the very narrow
ranges at depth. This observed near-uniformity of both salinity and temperature (and thus
density) on depth surfaces implies that the major geostrophic currents in the deep Gulf of
Mexico are expected to be nearly barotropic. Later in this review, that is demonstrated to
be the case. However, there must be some horizontal density gradients, especially near
continental slopes, because deep currents appear intensified near the boundaries.
Figure 4.3 better illustrates upper layer waters with two different distributions.
Caribbean type water with a high maximum salinity marking the core of the Subtropical
Underwater (SUW) is found within the region enclosed by the Loop Current and LCEs,
illustrated in the figure by station 215 which is within an older LCE found in the
northwestern Gulf The second type of distribution is illustrated in the figure by station
165 which was located within a cyclone in the northwestern Gulf; there the salinity
maximum at the SUW core is much reduced by vertical mixing (characteristic of open
Gulf waters outside of the Loop Current and of LCEs) and temperatures and salinities are
found higher in the water column than within the LCEs.
The pronounced subsurface salinity maximum associated with the SUW core together
with the greater depth of isotherms serve as markers by which to easily distinguish LCEs
from cyclonic rings or the background waters of the Gulf Moreover, the salinity at the
SUW core and the depth of upper layer (e.g., 15° to 20°C) isotherms are often plotted as
horizontal distributions to indicate not only the signs and extents but also the intensities
of Gulf eddies.
Robinson (1973) described the seasonal variability of the upper waters of the Gulf in
terms of the monthly mean temperatures of the surface and upper 150 m and the depth to
the top of the thermocline. Contoured fields of temperature at six levels and of the
thermocline depth are pictured. Also shown are time series of temperatures at distinct
levels averaged for each 2.5° x 2.5° square. Robinson's graphics illustrate the oceanic
thermal response of the northern Gulf to the annual cycle of insolation (Figure 4.4). The
surface waters warm in spring and summer, with maxima in July-August, and cool in fall
and winter, with minima in February. Deeper waters of the upper 150 m also show
warming, but with maxima smaller arid later in the year with increasing depth. Minima
are similar in time.
68
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Figure 4.2. Temperature vs. salinity, temperature vs. depth, and salinity vs. depth based on all data collected during Hidalgo cruise 62-H-3,
February-March 1962.
25ilFIII)'IJIllII1IILJIJII1FIl1III,11II 0 II 0It1IIIlIl1lJIlllIII1[1Ill1l11FIIIIll 11111111
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Figure 4.3, Temperature vs. salinity, temperature vs. depth, and salinity vs. depth for two stations made in ear'y May 1993 over the continental
slope off Texas. Station 215 (large triangles) was in the remnant of a Loop Current Eddy and station 165 (small circles) was in a
cyclone. Station positions relative to sea surface height anomaly are shown in Figure 4.13.
- I) 27°N. 96°W
30 30 30 30 30
SURFACE
25 25 25 25 25
20 20 20 20 20
15 15 15 is 15
1D 10 10 i0 10
DJFMAMJJASONDJ DJFMAMJJASONDJ DJFMAMJJASDNDJ DJFMAMJJASONDJ
1000
IIIIIII1IJIIIlI 90° 80°
300 300
200 200
100 10°
1000 90° 80°
Figure 4.4. Annual time series of monthly averaged temperatures at six depths for four regions in the northern Gulf of Mexico (From: Robinson
1973). Locations of regions are shown.
Low-Frequency, Local Wind Forcing

One permanent circulation feature in the deepwater Gulf thought to be locally wind
driven is an anticyclonic (clockwise rotating) feature oriented about ENE-WSW with its
western extent near 24°N off Mexico. It can be seen centered near 24.5°N, 95°W in
Figure 4.1. This feature has been noted by Behringer et al. (1977), among others. There
has been considerable debate regarding the causal mechanism for this anticyclonic
circulation and the associated western boundary current along the coast of Mexico.
Elliott (1979, 1982) attributed LCEs as the primary source of energy for the feature, but
Sturges and Blaha (1975), Blaha and Sturges (1981), and Sturges (1993) argued that wind
stress curl over the western Gulf is adequate to drive an anticyclonic circulation with a
western boundary current. Sturges (1993) found annual variability in the wind stress curl
corresponding to the strongest observed boundary current in July and the weakest in
October. Based on ship drift data, he showed the maximum northward surface speeds in
the western boundary current were 25 to 30 cm-s1 in July and about 5 cm-s1 in October;
the northward transport in the western limb of the feature was estimated to vary from 2.5
to 7.5 x 106 m3s1. Sturges reasoned that the contribution of LCEs to forcing this
anticyclonic feature must be relatively small. Vidal et al. (1999) attempted to attribute
the presence of a northward flow along the western Gulf boundary to ring-slope-ring
interactions, but their evidence does not seem convincing. The numerical circulation
model of the Gulf reported by Oey (1995) shows a seasonal, wind-driven boundary
current in the western Gulf. It is strongest in July and August some 1 to 2 months after
the largest negative wind stress curl, in good agreement with the observations reported by
Sturges (1993).
Geopotential anomaly, derived from temperature and salinity data, and SSHA, derived
from satellite altimeter data, provide evidence of a permanent cyclonic circulation in the
Bay of Campeche in the southwest Gulf of Mexico (18° to 22°N and 92° to 97°W) as
noted by Vazquez (1975). Analyzing the geopotential anomaly of the surface relative to
450 db from 13 cruises in the southern Gulf of Mexico during the period 1958-1991 with
empirical orthogonal functions, Vázquez (1993) showed the dominant mode represented
93% of the variance and yielded a cyclonic flow pattern. The pattern showed a central
low of 4 ± 1 dyn cm below the basin mean with a mean central location of about 19.7°N,
94.5°W (Figure 4.5, after Vázquez 1993). Fields of SSHA from May 1992 through
December 1998 also show a cyclonic gyre in the Bay of Campeche. Averaging one field
per month yields a mean pattern consisting of a central low of 13 ± 5 dyn cm and a center
located about 20.8°N, 94.5°W. The difference in the mean lows from the geopotential
anomaly and SSHA suggests there is a strong barotropic component in the cyclonic gyre.
The most plausible forcing for the cyclone is the positive wind torque, which is present in
the area throughout the year (Velasco and Winant 1996). The seasonal pattern of SSHA
shows the cyclone is at minimum strength in summer, consistent with the minimum
positive wind torque that occurs in season.
72
9rw 9TW 96GW 95W 94GW 93W 92°W 91W 90W
23N I I I I 2.3°N
: :
Ittii_ 2
o 1
0
21N . 21N
2ON 20N
19 N 119 N
18 N
98GW 9TW
JhAI 96GW 95GW
1V\ -
94°W 93GW 92GW 91GW
18 N
90°W
Figure 4.5. Contours of mean dynamic height (dyn cm) of surface relative to 450 db, constructed by averaging the first empirical orthogonal
modes (EOF) obtained from an EOF analysis of the geopotential anomaly for 13 cruises covering the area (From: Vázquez 1993).
The first mode contained 93% of the variance.
Surface Wind Waves

Oceanic surface gravity waves with periods of 1 to 30 s contain large amounts of energy.
Produced by wind acting at the air-sea interface, they consist of two types: sea (also
referred to as wind waves) has typical periods of 0.2 to 9 s and is generated by local
winds; swell, with periods of 9 to 30 s, are waves that have propagated from another
region in which they were generated.
Because the fetch in the Gulf of Mexico is limited, surface gravity waves having large
amplitudes and long periods (10 s) are rare (McGrail and Cat-ties 1983 and references
therein) and are generally associated with extreme episodic weather events such as
hurricanes (National Data Buoy Center [NDBC] 1990).
The NDBC of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration maintains

meteorological buoys in the Gulf of Mexico. Three of these are located along
approximately 26°N latitude in waters with depths near 3,200 m. Table 4.2 gives the
locations of these buoys, together with water depths and the periods of records ('--'15 to
20 years) used by NDBC to compute the significant wave height and wave period from
the buoys. Wave data are calculated by NDBC by applying spectral analysis to data from
accelerometers or inclinometers that measure the heave acceleration or vertical
displacement of the buoy hull during the wave acquisition time (Steele and Mettlach
1993). The significant wave height is calculated as the average of the highest one-third
of all the wave heights measured during a 20-minute sampling period. The average wave
period is the average period of all waves during the sampling period. The dominant wave
period is the period with the maximum wave energy. Also shown in Table 4.2 is
information for one ND]3C buoy (42020) located over the shelf off south Texas.
Table 4.3 gives the monthly and annual means of significant wave height, average wave
period, and dominant wave period for the four buoys as computed by NDBC (data were
obtained from NDBC Internet site, www.ndbc.noaa.gov).
Table 4.2. Location, water depth, and period of records, used for computations given in
Table 4.3, for marine buoys in the Gulf of Mexico
Buoy Period Latitude Longitude Total water depth

Number of Record (°N) (°W) (m)
42001 01/1976-12/1993 25.93 89.65 3,246.0

42002 06/1973 - 12/1993 25.89 93.57 3,200.0
42003 11/1976-12/1993 25.94 85.91 3,164.0
42020 0511990 - 12/1993 26.92 96.70 78.6
Throughout the deep water Gulf of Mexico, the patterns of significant wave height and
wave period are similar. The monthly mean significant wave heights average 1.1 m and
range from 0.6 to 1.5 m, and the average wave period ranges flom 4.1 to 5.2 s with a
mean of 4.8 s (Table 4.3). Approximately 92% to 94% of the wave heights were 2 m or
less at the deep water buoys. The patterns at the shallow water buoy were similar, and
92% of the wave heights were 2 m or less.
74
Table 4.3. Monthly and annual mean significant wave height (m) and extremes based on hourly observations from marine
buoys (data from the National Buoy Data Center). Buoys 42001 (central Gulf), 42002 (western Gulf), and 42003
(eastern Gulf) are located in depths of approximately 3200 m; buoy 42020 (western Gulf) is located
over the shelf in water depth of approximately 80 m.
Buoy Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual
Mean Signflcant Wave Height (m)

42001 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.9 1.2 1.4 1.4 1.1±0.7
42002 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.3 1.1 0.9 0.7 0.6 1.0 1.2 1.5 1.5 1.2±0.7
42003 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.1 0.9 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.8 1.1 1.4 1.3 1.0±0.7
42020 1.5 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.2 1.2 1.1 0.7 1.0 1.3 1.6 1.5 1.3±0.7
Maximum SignfIcant Wave Height (m)

42001 5.3 6.4 9.1 4.7 3.4 2.9 5.1 9.1 6.6 6.8 6.6 5.5 9.1
42002 5.2 7.4 7.8 5.9 3.4 5.1 3.1 6.9 9.7 7.2 8.4 5.0 9.7
42003 6.1 5.7 9.2 4.9 4.7 3.6 3.3 6.4 8.9 4.4 10.7 4.9 10.7
42020 5.0 3.8 6.1 3.9 3.3 4.6 2.4 2.7 3.4 3.8 4.9 4.6 6.1
Average Wave Period (seconds)

42001 5.0 5.1 5.1 4.8 4.6 4.4 4.1 4.2 4.6 4.8 5.1 5.0 4.7±0.9
42002 5.1 5.2 5.2 5.0 4.8 4.7 4.4 4.3 4.7 5.0 5.2 5.2 4.9±0.8
42003 4.8 4.9 5.0 4.7 4.7 4.8 4.7 4.5 4.4 4.8 5.0 4.9 4.8±0.8
42020 5.1 4.9 5.1 5.1 4.8 4.7 4.5 4.1 4.5 5.0 5.2 5.1 4.8±0.8
Dominant Wave Period (seconds)

42001 6.4 6.6 6.6 6.2 5.8 5.5 5.2 5.3 5.7 6.2 6.7 6.5 6.1±1.5
42002 6.5 6.7 6.8 6.4 6.2 6.0 5.5 5.3 5.9 6.5 6.8 6.7 6.3±1.5
42003 6.2 6.4 6.5 6.0 5.9 6.1 6.2 5.7 5.6 6.0 6.5 6.3 6.1±1.4
42020 6.7 6.4 6.6 6.7 6.2 6.1 5.8 5.1 5.7 6.6 6.8 6.7 6.3±1.4
Now/in et a/,: Physical Oceanography
The higher mean significant wave heights and longer average and dominant wave periods
are seen to occur between November and March. As expected, the lowest heights and
shortest periods occur in summertime, when fewer frontal passages or other storms occur
(Nowlin et al. 1 998a). Although the maxima significant wave heights for the period of
record generally are smallest from April to July, there is a less regular seasonal pattern
for the maximum heights than for the mean heights. This is because the maxima are
associated with energetic, episodic wind events, such as hurricanes, which occur between
June and November, or cyclogenesis events, which occur mainly between November and
May (Nowlin et al. 1 998a). With sufficiently long records, it is likely that the maximum
significant wave height would increase to 9 m or more for all months since strong storms
could occur in any month; but, because extreme events are rare, the mean significant
wave heights likely would remain similar to those shown.
The energetic atmospheric events, which produce the larger waves, are of great concern
in the design of offshore structures. Considerable effort has been spent to estimate these
waves, both directional spectra and kinematics, from meteorological data through the use
of hindcast modeling and to validate such models (e.g., Cardone et al. 1976; Forristall et
al. 1978; Forristall et al. 1980). As part of model validation, Ward et al. (1978)
developed a hurricane climatology covering the period 1900 through 1974 based on wave
data from 48 Gulf of Mexico storms with a central pressure of 980 mb or less. They
found maximum significant wave heights ranging from 4.6 to 15.5 m with an average of
9.7 in; 27 of the 48 storms exceeded 10 m. Using the Cardone et al. (1976) wave
hindcast model validated by Ward et al. (1978), 1-laring and 1-leideman (1978) estimated
rare wave heights associated with 22 severe hurricanes occurring in the Gulf of Mexico
between 1900 and 1977. They found the model results varied little between the three
sectors studied off the coasts of south Texas, east Texas-west Louisiana, and east
Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama. They found 100-yr significant wave heights of 12 to 13
m in water depths of 70 to 700 in and 11 to 12 m in shallower waters; the dominant
spectraJ wave periods were 14 to 15 s in all water depths studied. Maximum 100-yr wave
heights were estimated to be 20 to 22 m.
Tracy and Cialone (1996) reported that during Hurricane Opal, which was an intense
category 4 hurricane in October 1995, the observed maximum significant wave height
and maximum peak period in the central and east deepwater Gulf of Mexico reached
10 m and 13 s at buoy 42001, near which Opal passed by, and 8 m and 22 s at buoy
42003. In August 1992, Hurricane Andrew, which was within 2 mb of becoming a
category 5 hurricane, generated significant surface waves that were well-documented
over both the deep water and the Texas-Louisiana shelf. Stone et al. (1993) and Breaker
et al. (1994) reported on measurements made at buoys 42003, which was -50 km
southwest of the hurricane at its closest, and buoy 42001, which was -240 km southwest.
Prior to the hurricane, seas at 42003 had wave heights of less than 1 m and wave periods
of 4 to 8 s. As the hurricane passed near the buoy, seas reached a maximum significant
wave height of over 6 m and peak wave periods of 17 s. Measurements from buoy 42001
also showed the influence of Hurricane Andrew with a time lag of approximately 9 hr
(Stone et al., 1993). The significant wave height increased from less than 2 m before the
hurricane to over 4 m, while the wave period increased from 7 s to 17 s. Waves at buoy
76
42003 were generated primarily by the hurricane until it passed by; waves at buoy 42001,
however, were primarily swell (Breaker et al. 1994).
Hurricanes, however, are not the only intense storms that can generate significant waves.
Approximately 10 times each year, winter cyclones develop over the Gulf of Mexico in a
process called cyclogenesis (Hsu 1988). On 12 March 1993, an intense extratropical
cyclone, comparable to a category 1 hurricane, developed off the south Texas coast
(Nowliri et al. 1998a). From 0600 to 1800 UTC on 12 March, it moved eastward along
the Texas shelf edge before turning to the northeast. At about 0900 UTC 13 March, it
exited the Gulf over Florida at about 85°W (Schumann et al. 1995). Maxima for
significant wave height, average wave period, and dominant wave period were,
respectively, 9.2 m, 9.7 s, and 14.3 s at eastern buoy 42003, 9.1 m, 9.8 s, and 12.5 s at
central buoy 42001, and 7.8 m, 9.1 s, and 12.5 s at western buoy 42002. The peaks in
height and period progressed in time from the western to eastern buoys. The significant
wave heights were greater the farther east the buoys, reflecting the condition that for
cyclones, the maximum wave heights occur to the right of the path of forward movement
of the storm systems (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 1984). The buoys in the central and
eastern Gulf were on the right side of the storm for a longer time than was the buoy on
the west. On the shelf off south Texas at buoy 42020 the maximum significant wave
height was 6.1 m. The maximum record-length significant wave heights at buoys 42001
and 42020 were associated with this cyclone.
Forcing By Energetic, Episodic Wind Events

Perhaps the currents of longest concern to oil and gas operators are those resulting from
strong, episodic wind events, such as tropical cyclones (especially hurricanes),
extratropical cyclones, and cold air outbreaks. Such wind events can result in extreme
waves and cause currents with speeds of 100 to 150 cms1 over the continental shelves.
Recent examples for the TexasLouisiana shelf and upper slope are given in Nowlin et al.
(l998a). Others (e.g., Molinari and Mayer 1982; Brooks 1983, 1984) have measured the
effects of such phenomena down to depths of 700 (980) m over the continental slopes in
the northwestern (northeastern) Gulf.
Tropical conditions normally prevail over the Gulf from May or June until October or
November. The nominal hurricane season is 1 June through 30 November. Figure 4.6
shows horizontal current vectors (hourly values from 3-hr low-passed records) during late
August 1992 from two locations off Louisiana at approximately 90.5°W on the shelf edge
and upper slope. Figure 4.7 shows mooring locations discussed in this review.
Moorings 13 and 12 were located in water depths of 200 and 504 m, respectively.
Current meter depths are indicated. The eye of Hurricane Andrew passed on a
northeastward track about 85 km north of mooring 13 at 0000 UTC on 26 August.
Near-surface instruments recorded a large surge of water directed to the left of the stormTs
track just before the passage of the eye; maximum values at 10 m on mooring 13 reached
163 cm-sd. Following the initial surge, an oscillation with near inertial period was set up
that penetrated, with diminished amplitude, to the deepest instrument on mooring 13
approximately 24 hours after the initial surge. Some time delay and considerable
77
M12
50 ET
Teterdepth- l2rn
///
-50
Meterdepth-lOOm
E
0
Qv7///Z/ -----
(10)-50
Meerdepth-490m
-10-
0: 12: 0: 12: 0: 12: 0: 12: 0: 12: 0: 12: 0: 12: 0:
24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
August
1992
tQll3
50
M&erdepth- lOni
-S I/
-50
Meter depth - 100 ni
0
______7jr. 7- /1
0
C
50
Mee depth- 190m
L\\\\ IA\ L
//0'
-50
0: 12: 0: 12: 0: 12 12: 0: 12: 0: 12: 0: 12: 0:
24 25 26 ' 27 28 29 30 31
August
1992
Figure 4.6. Horizontal current vectors (hourly values from 3-hr low-passed records) during late August 1992 from two locations off Louisiana at
approximately 90.5°W on the shelf edge and upper slope. The cross-shelf components are oriented up and down (up is on shore)
and along shelf components are oriented across the figure (generally eastward to the right). Moorings 13 and 12 were located in
water depths of 200 and 504 m; current meter depths are indicated. The eye of Hurricane Andrew passed on a northeastward track
approximately 85 km north of mooring 13 at about 0000 UTC on 26 August.
Figure 4.7. Locations of current measurements or model output used in figures within this review. Stars are moorings S and C; squares are
LATEX moorings 6-10, 12, and 13; grey diamonds are locations for CCAR model output; triangles denote moorings TI and M2
(Molinari and Mayer 1982); an inverted triangle is SAIC mooring G; circles denote moorings in the Mississippi Canyon (Block 628
and TAMU); and a hexagon is the Green Canyon Block 200 mooring. Bathymetry contours are 200, I O0O, 2,000, and 3,000 m.
Nowlin et aL: Physical Oceanography
decrease in amplitude with depth is seen, although the maximum speed at 190 m
exceeded 100 crns* There was a coherent but weak response at 490 m at mooring 12
(note change in velocity scale). The inertial oscillation continued for about a week with
diminishing amplitudes. A review of shallow currents associated with Andrew is
presented by Keen and Glen (1999).
Many studies of hurricane effects on the underlying ocean focus on surface wind waves
or storm surges, but a number consider the effects on currents and thermal (and density)
structures. Among those with a focus on hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico are Leipper
(1967), O'Brien and Reid (1967), O'Brien (1967), Fonistall (1974), Forristall (1980), and
Cooper and Thompson (1989a, 1989b). The papers by Sanford et al. (1987) and Price et
al. (1994) give results of a study of direct current observations within hurricanes
accompanied by model hindcasting and comparisons; they are summarized here.
Although the hurricanes studied were Norbert (off western Mexico at -20°N in
September 1984) and Josephine and Gloria (off the southeast Atlantic coast at 30°N in
October 1984 and September 1985), the results should be equally applicable to the Gulf
of Mexico for hurricanes of similar characteristics. These authors measured upper ocean
(200 m) currents by deploying aircraft expendable current profilers (AXCP) in a pattern
through each hurricane using a weather reconnaissance plane from which meteorological
observations were taken. The oceanic reaction to a severe storm can be separated into the
initial "forced response" with the arrival of the storm and the "relaxation stage response"
with the passage and retreat of the storm. The AXCP measurements were analyzed to
separate surface mixed layer and surface wave currents. The maximum vertically-
uniform currents in the surface mixed layer (--5 0 m) in the three storms were found to be
73, 110, and 170 cm-s-1, largest in the right quadrant. The vertical shear of the mixed
layer currents seemed on the order of 20 to 30 cmls. The maximum surface currents from
combining both mixed layer and surface wave components were estimated at 133 to
346 cms1. These results are consistent with their model results. Their models could
account for between 35% to 90% (with an average of 85%) of the variance of the mixed
layer currents, the agreement increased with increasing current speed. The mixed layer
currents showed patterns of divergence centered behind the eyes of the storms; these lead
to upwelling at the base of that layer and a lowering of sea level above. The mixed layer
divergence and the associated distortion of the thermal and density fields occur on near
inertial periods, giving rise to inertial waves with wave lengths of several hundred
kilometers and decay scales of 5 to 10 d (e.g., see Brooks 1983 results from Gulf of
Mexico in next paragraph).
Figure 4.8 shows hourly current components (u positive to the east and v positive to the
north) measured at indicated depths from 200 to 700 m on moorings S (26°N, 96° 1 'TW)
and C (55 km north of 5). Both moorings were approximately on the 730-rn isobath.
About 0000 UTC on 10 August 1980, the eye of Hurricane Allen passed some 65 km
WSW of mooring S on a track toward the NNW. The effects of the hurricane passage
were reported by Brooks (1983). Currents were stronger at mooring C than at 5,
although currents at both were affectedeven to within 20 m of the bottom. A strong
southward, along-shelf current occurred with the landward passage of the hurricane;
maximum speeds exceeded 90 cms1 in the thermocline at 200 m and 15 cms1 at 700 m.
80
200 200
Jv
100 100 /
S3: 700 ni
02: 450 rn
-100tp C:575
-100
- C3:575ni
C4:70m 04: 700 ni

r
Raw dala Raw data
-200
1234
Augusi
I I I I
5 6
I
7
I
8
I I r I F
9 1011 121314151617181920
-200
1
I I
234 5678
I I I I I
9
I I _____I I I I I I
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 1920
August
1980 1980
Figure 4.8. Components (u positive to the east and v positive to the north) of hourly currents measured at indicated depths on moorings S
(26°N, 96°10'W) and C (55 km north of S). Both moorings were approximately on the 730-rn isobath. The eye of Hurricane Allen,
on a track toward the NNW, passed about 65 km WSW of mooring S at 0000 UTC on 10 August 1980.
This surge triggered a series of internal waves with near inertial period; these elliptical
motions had maximum speeds along shore which reached a range of 50 cm-s1 within
about 3 days and then lasted for about 5 days with decreasing amplitudes. These
oscillations were coherent over the scale of mooring separation (55 km) and with depth.
From October or November until March or April the Gulf experiences intrusions of cold,
dry continental air masses. These result in the formation of extratropical cyclones and
cold air outbreaks, both of which can cause quite energetic surface currents. On average
about 10 to 12 extratropical cyclones are formed over the northern Gulf per year; the
number of frontal passages varies from 0 to 2 per month in summer to order 10 per month
in winter months. To illustrate the effects of an extreme extratropical cyclone,
Figure 4.9 shows eastward (u) and northward (v) components of currents (hourly values
from 3-hr low-passed records) from two moorings located off Louisiana at approximately
90.5°W. Mooring 13 was in water of depth 200 m; mooring 12 was in water depth of
504 m. On 12 March 1993, a class 5 extratropical cyclone moved from west to east
across the Texas-Louisiana shelf with its center approximately over the 1,500 m isobath.
Initially the flow over the outer shelf and slope was toward the northeast as part of an
induced cyclonic circulation over the Texas-Louisiana shelf. Following the passage of
the storm out of the area, on 13 March, there occurred a surge to the southwest followed
by a period (14 to 17 March) of strong motion toward the northeast, with diurnal
modulation. This was foJlowed by an energetic near-inertial oscillation with decreasing
amplitude lasting for over a week. The maximum observed speeds associated with this
event were: 65, 22, 67, 41, and 35 cms1 at mooring/depth (m) 12/12, 12/100, 13/10,
13/1 00, and 13/1 90, respectively.
During the LATEX program of the early 1990's sponsored by MMS, a class of energetic
surface currents previously unreported in the Gulf of Mexico were found over the Texas
and Louisiana shelves (DiMarco et al. 2000). To illustrate, Figure 4.10 shows eastward
(u) and northward (v) components of currents from 3- to 40-hr band-passed records made
in July and December 1992 at mooring 10 located off Louisiana at 27.94°N, 92.75°W in
water of depth 200 m. The July sequence shows maximum amplitudes of 40 to 60 cms
at depth of 12 m for the situation of light winds. The period of diminished amplitudes
followed an atmospheric frontal passage. These are near-circular, clockwise-rotating
oscillations with period near 24.0 hr. They seem to be an illustration of thermally
induced cycling (Price et al. 1986) in which large amplitude rotary currents can exist in
thin mixed layers typical of summer. By contrast, the December sequence shown in
Figure 4.10 evidences no such behavior. Many examples of such currents, in phase at
distinct locations, exist for the Texas-Louisiana shelf, and by implication they exist
further offshore. Currents at 1m depth have been observed to reach 100 cims*
Clearly episodic wind events can cause maj or currents in the deepwater Gulf. The initial
currents give rise to inertial oscillations lasting for up to about ten days with decreasing
amplitudes, superimposed on longer period signals. The number of direct measurements
of energetic currents forced by episodic wind events is rather limited in the deepwater
region of the Gulf of Mexico. Additional examples over the Texas-Louisiana continental
shelf edge and slope are given in Nowlin et al. (1 998a). The references contain other
82
200 I I I I J I I I I I I I 1 200 I I I I I I I I I I I I I
- 150 -
M310m
........... . ........................................................................... O0
50
M13190ni M319Orn
... ............. ..-.
M1212n, M1212rn
. .....................
.- . -.. -., .-. 4

-150 I I I I I I I I I I I I I -150 I I I I I I I I I F
4
I
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 10 15 15 17 18 19 20 21 22 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 10 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
March March
1990 1990
Figure 49. Eastward (u) and northward (v) components of currents (hourly values from 3-hr low-passed records) from moorings 'ocated off
Louisiana atapproximately9o.5°W. Mooring 13 was in water depth of 200 m; mooring 12 was in water depth of 504 m. On
12 March 1993, a class 5 extratropical cyclone moved from west to east across the Texas-Louisiana shelf with its center
approximately over the I 500-m isobath.
LATEX Mooring 10: Velocity components at 12 m

60
40
20
-20
-40
-60
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
July 1992
60
40-
20-
-20 -
U (solid)
III
-40 -
V (dashed)
Total water depth = 200 m
1234567891011121314151617181920
I
December 1992
II III
3 to 40 hr band-passed filtered data
Figure 4.10. Eastward (u) and northward (v) components of currents from 3-to 40-hr band-passed
records made in July and December 1992 at mooring 10 located off Louisiana at 27.94°N,
92.75°W in water depth of 200 m.
84
examples of measured currents, documentation of the effects on property distributions of

energetic, episodic wind events, and models of such storms (e.g., see Leipper 1967, for
effects of a hurricane passage on density and temperature distributions in the open Gulf
or OBrien 1967 or O'Brien and Reid 1967, for the modeled effects of hurricane
passage).
Loop Current Forcing and Eddy Activity

The phenomena of most concern in the past to deepwater operators in the Gulf of Mexico
are surface-intensified currents associated with the Loop Current (LC), anticyclonic Loop
Current eddies (LCEs) detached from the LC, and other eddies (both anticyclonic and
cyclonic). Currents associated with the LC and LCEs extend into the water colunrn to the
of order 1,000 m.
The Loop Current enters the Gulf through the Yucatan Channel and exits through the
Straits of Florida (Figure 4.1). As it enters (where it is called the Yucatan Current), the
LC is westward intensified (e.g., Cochrane 1963). The surface currents that parallel the
current core are approximately 200 cms1 or more at the core and fall off to 50 cm-s' or
less within order 10 km to the west and order 100 km to the east of the core. They may
reverse direction on the eastern side of the channel to flow from the Gulf into the
Caribbean (Cochrane 1963; Maul et al. 1985). The deep flow at the sill in the Yucatan
Channel is not unidirectional into the Gulf. In addition to tidal flows, there is significant
variability between northward and southward flows at subtidal frequencies. Based on a
3-year current record at 1985 m (145 m above the sill) from an instrument moored
halfway between Mexico and Cuba, Maul et al. (1985) showed an average southward
drift of 1.8 cms1 with significant energy near 19 d and 38 d. Moreover, they observed
four periods of persistent southward flow with average 5 cims1 speeds and bursts to
15 cms1. These were separated by 8 to 10 months and appear to follow shedding of
LCEs (R. 0. Reid, personal communication), so they may be due to mass compensation
as the Loop Current pushes into the Gulf following ring shedding.
As the LC moves into the Gulf, it tends to follow the topography along the Campeche
Bank with meanders of small amplitude (Molinari and Cochranie 1972). Using the
available data sets and an analytical model based on conservation of potential vorticity,
Molinari and Cochrane (1972) noted the LC tends to go unstable north of 23.5°N where
the topography changes rapidly from a north-south to east-west orientation; the current
then may veer east and begin to meander. Reid (1972) found with a simple dynamic
model that the variation of the Coriolis parameter could be responsible for the
anticyclonic turn of the LC after it detaches from the Campeche Bank.
The LC then extends northward into the Gulf as a quasi-stationary meander (Hamilton
1997). The extent of the northward intrusion is variable (see e.g., Maul 1977; Vukovich
et al. 1979; Sturges and Evans 1983; Molinari and Morrison 1988). The northward
development of a LC intrusion was described by Leipper (1970) and by Maul (1977)
using time series of contours of the 22°C isotherm at 100-rn depth, which Leipper
85
showed was a good indicator of the position of the LC. One example is schematically
depicted in Figure 4.11a. The sequence shows the intrusion of the LC front from
approximately 24.75°N in August 1972 northward into the Gulf a year later it had
extended to about 28.75 °N. The contours for June and July show the development of an
LCE associated with this intrusion. Note the July contours show the eddy pinching off at
both the east and west sides. By September 1973, the LCE had detached and the LC
front was at 25.5°N, about 30 latitude south of its position the month before. The percent
of time during which warm LC water was located within various regions in the eastern
Gulf is shown in Figure 4.11b (Science Applications International Corporation [SAIC]
1989). Although early investigations suggested that the northward extension was
characterized by a seasonal cycle with minimum intrusion in winter and maximum in
summer or fall (e.g., Leipper 1970; Maul 1977), subsequent investigations found the
phasing was highly variable (Sturges and Evans 1983; Molinari and Morrison 1988).
Data from 1974-1976, analyzed by Molinari and Morrison (1988), showed that the
noi-thward penetration of the LC into the Gulf was well correlated with the location of the
current on Campeche Bank at the time of its separation. The LC did not intnide far in the
Gulf when it was over the eastern part of Campeche Bank at time of separation; the
degree of penetration into the Gulf increased for separations occurring farther west on the
bank.
The LC influences the circulation in the deepwater region and over the slope of the
eastern Gulf both directly as it intrudes northward and indirectly through the eddies and
frontal features, such as filaments, associated with it (Kelly 1991). Maximum surface
currents in the LC range from 100 to 200 cms1 or more, as seen in Figure 4.12 (Nowlin
and Hubertz 1972). Hamilton (1997) reported on the velocity structure of the LC in the
upper 1,500 in as obtained from air-deployed current profilers on 11 May 1984. The
velocities normal to a nominally east-west transect across the LC at about 25°N showed
strong northward and southward flows at, respectively, the West arid east edges of the LC.
Flows in the current core exceeded 120 cms near-surface and were approximately
50 cm-s at 200 m and 10 cms1 at 700 m. Flows below 800 i-n, which is the sill depth of
the Florida Strait, were -40 cm-s' or less and generally in the opposite direction from the
current core, suggesting the LC penetrates only to the depth of the Florida Strait sill.
Hamilton (1990), however, showed that the LC may strongly influence currents below
1,000 m by the excitation of energetic currents associated with topographic Rossby
waves (discussed later).
Strong current events that are associated with the nearby presence of the LC and its
frontal features have been observed over the slopes and shelves of the eastern Gulf.
Ebbesrneyer et al. (1982) attributed to LC forcing the peak currents of 30 to 50 cms1
lasting 20 to 30 days that were observed at depths of 100 to 200 m over the upper slope
off the Mississippi River delta. Filaments that protrude from the LC also influence
currents over the slope. Huh et al. (1981) described an event in which an LC filament
moved, at speeds of20 cms, up the axis of De Soto Canyon to within a few miles of
the coast. Kelly (1991) and Vastano et al. (1991) describe types and effects of intrusions
of the LC and its filaments onto the Mississippi-Alabama slope and shelves.
86
92W 90W 88W 86W 84W 82W BOW
30N 30N
28 N 28N
---J .-. &

August 1972
April-May 1973
26N
I 26N June 1973
,-.-.....
-t - July 1973
1 ----- __ Septemb& 1973
:,rj
,
24N - - 24N
22N 22N
92W 90W 88W 86W 84W 82W 80W
92W 90W 88W 86W 84W 82W 80W
30 N 30N
28 N - 28N
26 N
24N
LE
\
4 _t'
26 N
24N
/
22N 22N
(b)
92W 90.W 88W 86W 84W 82W 80W
Figure 4.11. (a) An example of the development of an intrusion of the Loop Current into the eastern
Gulf of Mexico is schematically depicted with contours of the 22°C isotherm at 100-rn
depth from hydrographic cruises conducted in August 1972 through September 1973
(Adapted from: Maul 1977). (b) Frequency of occurrence (%) of warm Loop Current water
in the eastern Gulf of Mexico from monthly frontal analyses of AVHRR data from 1976
through 1985 (Adapted from: Science Applications International Corporation 1989).
Percentage contour intervals are 10%.
87
92 90 er 9O Br er E4
30 -
- -- i/
2r
1 I --
i .--
L
- \,
2\
__)
6- ç / 'I - I,4-_ .L4

S
-ii
- '
I
-'/ll"
I/i 1/, \.
24: k
24 24
- -,-- c
- / . - \\ \\i' //j
I
2r i. /I ?4 aa - p
/ 67-A-4 VUC AT
20 eo 20
82 92 90 ee 14
Figure 412. GEK surface current observations (left) and surface dynamic topography relative to 1,350db (right) from Alaminos cruise 67-A-4 in
June 1967 (Adapted from: Nowlin and Hubertz 1972).
Paluszkiewicz et al. (1983) describe the intrusion of an LC filament, propagating

southeastward at 30 cms1, onto the west Florida shelf.
When the LC penetrates into the Gulf, a LCE may separate from the LC itself. This
process is complex, and the eddy can detach and reaftach several times before fully
separating from the LC (Vukovich 1995). Cochrane (1972) described a May 1969
separation event. It involved the formation of two cyclonic meanders, one protruding
into the LC from Campeche Bank and the other from the west Florida shelf. The
Campeche Bank meander grew until it joined the west Florida shelf meander, creating a
cyclonic shear zone that separated the LCE from the LC. Vukovich and Maul (1985)
observed, for the period 1978 to 1981, that the separation of large anticyclonic eddies was
preceded by development of cyclonic eddies on the eastern side of the LC, but that
development of such cyclonic eddies did not always result in separation of an LCE.
Periods between LCE detachments vary from 4 to 16 months with a primary mode at 8 to
9 months and a secondary near 13 to 14 months (Sturges 1994; results of an analysis by
Vukovich 1995 are similar). Initially detached rings have diameters greater than 250 km.
with typical values near 350 km, which decrease by 45% within 150 days and 70% within
300 days (Elliott 1982). They may have surface speeds of 150 to 200 cms1 or more;
speeds of 10 cms1 are not uncommon at 500 m (Cooper et al. 1990). For more detail,
see Table 4.4. After their separation from the Loop Current, LCEs move into the western
Gulf, with average translation speeds of 5 km per day (range of 1 to 20 km per day), and
in the process may interact with other eddies or with the continental margins to form
additional eddies. They have typical lifetimes of 350 to 400 days (Elliott 1982), and
decay by interactions with boundaries, ring shedding, and ring-ring interactions (e.g.,
Vidal et al. 1992). The net result is that at almost any given time, the Gulf is populated
with numerous eddies, interacting with one another and with the margins. As an
example, Figure 4.13 shows sea surface height anomaly (cm) relative to a mean sea
surface for 9 May 1993. It is based on satellite altimeter gridded data by Robert R.
Leben, Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research (CCAR), as described in Biggs et
al. (1996). Clearly seen is the Loop Current, one semi-detached anticyclonic feature, the
remnants of two LCEs, and many cyclonic features of various strength. Many of these
separated anticyclonic and cyclonic features would be expected to have surface currents
exceeding 50 or even 100 cm-s1.
According to model results obtained by Oey (1995), transient shelf edge currents can be
forced by the expansion of LC into the Gulf, the passage of a LCE in deepwater, or the
collision of a LCE with the continental slope.
Although the LC and LCEs have been studied since the early 1960s, details of their
velocity distributions and variability remain virtually unknownonly a few estimates of
three-dimensional velocity fields have been reported (e.g., Cooper et al. 1990; Forristall
et al. 1992). As an example, Figure 4.14 shows components of velocity (cms') normal
to a section extending from approximately 27.4°N, 90.6°W (station 64) to 24.8°N,
89.4°W (station 78). Measurements were made with a lowered Neil Brown acoustic
current meter by Forristall et al. (1992); ship motion was estimated using Loran-C and
89
98 °W 96°W 94-°W 92°W 90°W 88° W 86°W 84°W 82°W
30°N 30°N
28°N I /
N 28°N
0'
/
26°N
__//l) (// - / //__ \\ \ / ///!)J / 26°N
- / -. \ / 1/ / \c -- / / / ' t 2O
"r/ ((
w
y / ;II)
\, ',
l .'r \'
24N 24N
tT
/ I
/
\.c ()
J
- contour interval
- 's-(7
I
- is 2.5 cm
\: T-'
ii
22°N
5L - 22°N
IJ
20°N 20°N
)
P
1
j /
: <r ____/__
4j.
98 °W 96°W 94°W 92°W 90°W 88 °W 86°W 84° W 82°W
Figure 4.13. Sea surface height anomaly (cm) from satellite altimeter data for 9 May 1993. Based on gridded data from Robert R. Leben,
Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research, as described in Biggs etal. (1996). Locations of stations 165 (filled circle) and 215
(filled triangle) are shown.
Station
U)
(0(0 co o, r-o IN C U) W - CO a)
Co '.0 Co r- t.- t.- p- i- t
0
I JillLI IioljIll
I ig/,1flt
ii lit %,tII '
I
I
I
I
I I
I
I
I %%
I I I I t I ,iI 1
100 CD '0 1 '
It
j 1
o -
lull
,
1 %
i
I I
t
ljIl ili
'' ._iII
I i i i
I i i i
200 I i i i
a)
a)
I
1'
',.6b11i
0)
x
1
5
1
i
1ll 1 t
30O l I
I
Jo I
CD
l 1
it
J
I
I,
1
a
o 1
1
I ' it
400
j I .
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Distance (km)
Figure 4.14. Components of velocity (cms-1) normal to a section extending from approximately 27.4°N, 90.6°W (station 64)to 24.8°N, 89.4°W
(station 78). Measurements were made by Forristall et al. (1992) using a lowered Neil Brown acoustic current meter; ship motion
was estimated using Loran-C and motion of the instrument relative to the ship was measured with an ultra-short baseline acoustic
system. This section crossed the LCEcalled Fast Eddy during August 1985, and components are taken to represent azimuthal
swirl speeds of the eddy. Positive components are directed toward 65°.
Now/in et a!,: Physical Oceanography
Table 4.4. Loop Current eddy properties
Shedding frequency Mean of about 10 months, with variations from 4 to 16 months

(Sturges 1994)
Translation speeds Vary over speeds of 1-14 km per day

Average speed of 5 km per day
Diameters of last Initially usually 250 km; typical value near 350 km
closed circulation Decrease by 45% within 150 days; 70% within 300 days
(Elliot 1982)
Swirl speeds For new rings: 150-250 cms1 at surface; 10 cms1 at 500 m
Depths Property distributions and motions extend to >1,000 m for

new rings
Filaments are likely confined to the upper 50-3 00 m
Energy Available potential energy for typical new ring is

1 5x 1 Jm 'Ratio of available potential energy to kinetic
energy 4.5 for new rings (Elliot 1979)
Lifetimes 350 to 400 days (Elliot 1982)
Decay modes Interactions with boundariesfomrntion of filaments

Ring shedding; ring-ring interactions
motion of the instrument relative to the ship was measured with an ultra-short baseline
acoustic system. This section crossed the LCE Fast Eddy during August 1985 and
components are taken to represent azimuthal swirl speeds of the eddy. Positive
components are directed toward 65°. Surface currents exceeded 160 cms1 on one side of
this LCE and 120 cms1 on the other side. Speeds at 200 m reached 100 cms1 in this
young LCE located in the north central Gulf.
To illustrate currents produced by LCEs in the northwestern Gulf, and at somewhat

greater depths, in Figure 4.15 are shown 40-br, low passed current components from the
same moorings C and S discussed in connection with hurricane effects (Figure 4.8). At
mooring S large northward component, accompanied by reversing east-west components,
are seen at the upper instrument commencing in late September and continuing into early
November. During this period, northward speeds at 200-m depth averaged about
50 cms1, with bursts exceeding 70 cms1. This period of high speed flow resulted
because of the presence of a clockwise rotating renmarit of an LCE in the area (Brooks
1984). The vector velocities (not shown) reveal that the current varied in direction from
NW to NE several times during this period; the implication is that the western edge of the
92
I I
I I I I I I
28 4 11 18 25 2 9 16 23 30 6 13 20 27
Sep Oct Nov
1980
Figure 4.15. Components (u positive to the east and v positive to the north) of 40-hr, low-passed currents measured at indicated depths on
moorings S (26N, 96c lOW) and C (55 km north of S). Both moorings were approximately on the 730-rn isobath. At rnooring 5, a
long period of high northward components, accompanied by reversing east-west components, is seen to commence in late
September and continue into early November; this was the result of the presence of an anticyclonic eddy over the mooring.
eddy repeatedly moved north and south over the mooring during the period. Maximum
speeds associated with this LCE at 200 m reached 60 crns1; speeds at 450 m were
considerably less, but nevertheless significant at values in excess of 35 cms1; even near
the bottom at 700 m speeds reached 10 cm-s1. Velocities at mooring C were not
correlated with those at mooring S. A cyclonic eddy (also noted to be in the area by
Brooks 1984) was situated between moorings C and S from about 10 until 20 September,
as seen by northwestward flow at S and southeastward flow at C.
Figure 4.16 shows horizontal current vectors (hourly values from 3-hr low-passed
records) from moorings located approximately equidistant along the 200-rn isobath at the
edge of the Texas continental shelf. Mooring 6 was at 27.71°N, 95.66°W; mooring 9 was
at 2781°N, 93.50°W. The influence of Loop Current Eddy V over the shelf edge is seen
as it moves generally eastward past each mooring, beginning at mooring 6 from 22 July
to 9 August. Maximum speeds at the upper instruments (--10 m) ranged from 50 to
100 crns'; those at mid-depth instruments (100 m) approached or exceeded 50 cm-s1. It
should be noted that this LCE remnant was only the northern portion of an old ring that
had been separated into two parts by interaction with another eddy.
Energetic, high frequency currents have been reported to occur with the passage of LCEs
past structures, but they are not well documented; such currents would be of concern to
offshore operators because they could induce structural fatigue of materials.
Only limited information is available concerning the velocity fields within cyclonic and
ancillary anticyclonic eddies; reports include Vukovich and Maul (1985), Forristall et al.
(1992), Hamilton (1992), and notably Berger et aL (1996). Hamilton (1992) reports the
existence in the central Gulf and over the Louisiana continental shelf of cold cyclones
with upper layer currents of 30 to 50 cms-1, little surface temperature expression, the
largest isotherm displacements in the depth range 200 to 800 rn, diameters of 100 to
150 krn, and long lifetimes.
Berger et al. (1996) reported on the existence over the continental slope and offshore of
numerous eddies smaller than LCEs. Three small types of eddies can be identified from
the results of that study: cyclonic eddies, anticyclonic eddies, and a submesoscale
coherent vortex. The cyclones are probably the same features described over the slope by
Hamilton (1992) and mentioned by Hamilton et al. (1999). These features are seen to
affect the then-nal fields to diameters of 1 50 km, although the observed radii of solid
body rotation seems to extend only to 25 to 50 km. Maximum currents are 30 to 50
cm-s1 and occur somewhat beneath the surface, e.g. around 200 m. Velocities extend
into the water column to depths of 800 to 1,000 m. Isotberms are sometimes observed to
be depressed in the surface waters with the doming found in cyclones beginning around
200 m and increasing with increasing depth down to at least 1,500 m. (This is consonant
with occurrence of maximum culTents near 200 m) The secondary anticyclones
observed over the continental slopes of Texas and Louisiana seemed to have horizontal
extents as small as or smaller than the cyclones. However, they were numerous and often
found over the upper slope. Unlike the cyclones, they have their maximum thermal
expression in the surface layers. There are only minimal measurements of the velocity
94
Figure 4.16. Horizontal current vectors (hourly values from 3-hr low-passed records) from moorings located approximately equidistant along the
200-rn isobath at the edge of the Texas contnental shelf. Along shelf components are oriented up-down (up is generaUy
eastward); cross-shelf components are oriented across the figure (off-shelf to the right). Mooring 6 was at 27.71 °N, 95.66°W;
mooring 9 was at 27.81 N, 93.50GW.
Now/in at aL: Physical Oceanography
structure in these features, though one can speculate that maximum velocities are
<50 cms-1. On one occasion in October of 1993, Berger et al. (1996) observed over the
slope near 92.5°W an eddy not previously observed in the Gulf of Mexico, with thermal
structure that was raised and lowered, respectively, above and below a subsurface level of
about 350 m.
Sea Level and Tides

Sea level is the elevation of the water surface relative to a fixed datum (Reid 1990). It
fluctuates over many time and space scales. This section focuses on those sea level
fluctuations that are due to seasonal thermal variations and to astronomical forces.
The seasonal cycle of heating and cooling induces thermally-forced seasonal sea level
variability in the Gulf of Mexico. Pattulo et al. (1955) conducted a study of sea level
oscillations over the world oceans, including observations from the Gulf of Mexico.
They defined the component of sea level due to the density distribution as steric sea level.
They noted that in the subtropical latitudes, the variations in steric level were mostly
thermally-induced and quite large. Pattulo (1963) found the large sea level variations in
the subtropics were due principally to variations in oceanic heat storage induced by
seasonal variations in local heating.
Whitaker (1971) focused his study of the seasonal variations of steric sea level
specifically on the Gulf of Mexico. He computed steric levels using available
temperature data together with a constant salinity of 36.30, which he showed resulted in
errors of the same order as those due to sampling and smoothing. His monthly maps of
steric sea level relative to 150 in show a general Gulf-wide increase in steric height
during spring and summer to maxima in September-October and a decrease during fall
and winter to minima in Februaiy-March. The approximate range of steric levels through
the year was 0.275 to 0.625 dyn m. The maps also show a higher steric level signature
from the warmer water temperatures associated with the Loop Current and possible LCEs
in the eastern Gulf and a western high," possibly associated with LCEs, in the western
Gulf.
Astronomically induced sea level variations in the northern Gulf of Mexico are
dominated by the diurnal tidal components, rather than the semidiurnal components,
except along the west Florida coast (Reid and Whitaker 1981; see also Reid 1990, for a
review of tides, tidal forcing, and numerical modeling of tides). Tides in the Gulf are
connected to tides in the Atlantic Ocean through the two ports at the Yucatan Channel
and Straits of Florida. Reid and Whitaker (1981) reviewed tides in the Gulf of Mexico
and developed a numerical tide model that agreed well with the observed K1, O, P1, M2,
and S tidal constituents. Table 4.5 shows their computations of tidally-induced volume
influx from the two ports and the Gulf-wide mean response of water level. For
comparison, Table 4.5 also shows water level response to these five tidal constituents
measured at a deep pelagic site (Mofjeld and Wimbush 1977). The results of Reid and
Whitaker (1981) show diurnal tides have nearly uniform amplitudes and phases over the
96
whole Gulf, with the K1 and 0 constituents significantly greater in amplitude than the
semi-diurnal tidal amplitudes, and are driven mainly by in-phase forcing through the
ports. This is in agreement with earlier investigators (Grace 1932, 1933; Maimer 1954;
Zetler and Hansen 1972). The semidiurnal tides, however, are smaller than the diurnal
tides and are driven mainly by the direct tide potential. Reid and Whitaker (1981) note
that the response of the M2 tide is nearly resonant to the direct forcing by the tide
potential. They find the greatest response occurs on the west Florida shelf near Cedar
Key, explaining the anomalously large M, tides along the west Florida coast compared to
the rest of the Gulf. Table 4.6 shows the percent of the total variance in sea level
attributed to in-phase and out-of phase port forcing and to direct forcing by the tide
potential.
Table 4.5. Summary of volume computations and mean response of water level (Reid
and Whitaker 1981) and observed tidal constituents measured at a deep
pelagic site located at 24.767°N, 89.648°W by Mofjeld arid Wimbush (1977).
The influx rate is for both ports combined. The phase lag is given relative to
the time of transit of the maximum tide potential at Greenwich. The rms
values are for the amplitude moduli for 20 observational stations, including
that of Mofjeld and Wimbush (1977), for each given tidal component.
Compare the tidal influx rates with the mean volume flux of30 x 106 m3-s1
into and out of the ports that is associated with the quasi-permanents currents.
Mean sea level RMS station Observation at deep

Influx rate
Tidal response response pelagic site
constituent Amplitude Phase Amplitude Phase Amplitude Phase
(106 m3s') (degrees) (cm) (degrees) (cm) (cm) (degrees)
K1 14.40 294.3 12.82 24.3 14.93 14.10 28.5
01 12.73 289.7 12.23 19.7 14.43 14.90 18.9
P1 4.19 295.2 3.75 25.2 4.60 4.76 28.4
M2 5.18 105.7 2.39 195.7 15.29 1.30 225.8

S2 2.19 103.3 0.98 193.3 5,74 1.50 130.0
Table 4.6. Percent of observed variance in sea level attributed to various

forcing factors by the model (Reid and Whitaker 1981)
Forcing factor %for %for

K1 M2
In-phase port forcing 83 35
Direct forcing 12 55
0utof-phase port forcing 1 1
Residual 4 9
97
Now/in at al.: Physical Oceanography
Tidal currents are induced by the changes in sea level elevation from astronomical tides.
Schmitz and Richardson (1968) detennined the tidal volume transport amplitudes of the
Florida Current were 3.5 ±1 x 106 m3s1 for the K1, 0, and M2 tides and 1.5 ± 1 x 106
m3-s for the S2 tide, in good agreement with estimates across the Straits of Florida by
Werthiem (1954). Durham (1972) calculated the tidal current transports for the K1 and
O tides across the Yucatan Channel to be 12.6 ± 4 x 106 m3s4 and 11.3 ± 4 x 106 m3-s',
respectively.
Rezak et al. (1985) presented the major and minor axes of the K1 and M2 tidal current
ellipses for the Gulf of Mexico as determined by the Reid and Whitaker (1981) model;
these showed the tidal currents over the deepwater Gulf were much smaller than those
over the shelves. Using a hydrodynamic model, Mungall et al. (1978) estimated the K1
and M2 tidal currents in the deepwater Gulf to be less than 1 cm s' with higher values
(5 to 20 cms') over the shelves. DiMarco and Reid (1998) conducted a tidal analysis of
81 current meter records over the Texas-Louisiana shelf and shelf break. They examined
the principal diurnal constituents (K1, 0, Pi. and Q ) and semi-diurnal constituents (M2,
52, K2, and N2). They found that, as expected, the tidal currents were larger over the shelf
than in deeper water. For example, K1 and M2 tidal current amplitudes at about 1 0-m
depth were, respectively, 3.2 cm-s' and 1.2 cms' from a mooring in water depth of 50 m
as compared to 1.6 CiThS1 and 0.5 cms' in water depth of 500 m. DiMarco and Reid
(1998) showed the tidal vectors of both the diurnal and semi-diurnal constituents rotated
anticyclonically. They found generally that the major axes of the semi-diurnal tidal
current ellipses were directed across the isobaths and the diurnal tidal current ellipses
were circular. Their results provided qualitative verification of the model results of Reid
and Whitaker (1991).
Removed from Yucatan Channel, Straits of Florida, canyons, or other major bathymetric
features, tidal currents in the offshore Gulf are small. In the upper 100 m, currents
associated with the major tidal components may reach amplitudes of 1 to 2 cm-s* At
greater depths they are much smaller. As an example over the upper slope, amplitudes of
M2, K1, and 01 components were 0.23, 0.32, and 0.26 cms at 490 m on LATEX
mooring 12 located in 500-m depth about 90.5°W off Louisiana. For a mooring in
Atwater Canyon Block 618 currents at 16 levels were analyzed for principal tidal
components. As expected, the principal components (M2, K1, and Oi) were 1 to 2 cm-sd
in the upper 100 m, decreasing to vanishingly small values (0. 1 cms or less than the
level of analysis error) for depths between a few hundred meters and near bottom at
1,945 in.
Currents in Deep Water

Discussed in previous sections were currents associated with energetic wind events and
with the Loop Current and mesoscale eddies. In addition to those currents, several other
classes of energetic currents are now known to occur in the deepwater region of the Gulf.
For the most part they are not yet well documented and even less well understood.
98
Figure 4.17 is a schematic of design current speeds in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico for
three classes of phenomena: the Loop Current and surface-intensified eddies;
topographic, barotropic Rossby waves; and subsurface-intensified, high-speed jets
(shown by gray domain). The currents associated with anticyclonic eddies have been
most often measured or estimated; those with cyclonic eddies are less well surveyed, but
assumed to be of same or lesser magnitudes. The phenomena of deep barotropic currents,
perhaps with bottom intensification, have been observed and reported in the open
literature on one occasion, but are substantiated by model results and proprietary
measurements. The subsurface-intensified, high-speed jets have now been documented
in many data sets, but not yet reported in the open literature. The physical mechanisms
responsible for those jets are not yet identified. Recently another class of deep currents
was detected by documenting their effects in producing long, deep, linear furrows in the
bottom sediments near the Sigsbee Escarpment. In this section are discussed deep,
barotropic currents believed due to topographic Rossby waves, subsurface-intensified
energetic jets, and currents responsible for the bottom furrows.
Deep, Barotropic Currents
During the rnidl980s, barotropic (depth independent) currents were observed to extend
from depths near 1,000 in to the bottom. Shown in Figure 4.18 are 40-hr low passed
current vectors from SAIC mooring G maintained in the eastern Gulf as part of an
MMS-sponsored physical oceanography program. As described by Hamilton (1990), the
northern edge (eastward currents) of the Loop Current was affecting the array during
December 1984. Then, from January to March the mooring was influenced by the
southward flow of the eastern limb of the LC as it extended further into the Gulf. Note
that currents above 1,000 m were affected in a coherent, surface-intensified manner, but
currents below 1,000 m were not affected. During the period April-June an eddy
separated from the LC. At that time considerable energy appeared in the lower water
columnvertical velocity coherence with slight near bottom intensification is seen.
Hamilton (1990) concluded that such currents result from barotropic topographic Rossby
waves triggered by the Loop Currentperhaps on separation of LCEsand that their
propagation speeds into the western Gulf are larger (perhaps 9 kimd') than the average
propagation speeds (5 lumd') of the separated LCEs.
Sturges et al. (1993) observed similar phenomena from numerical model results for the
Gulf. Deep circulation patterns distinct from those associated with the surface intensified
eddies also were seen in numerical model studies by Inoue and Welsh (1997).
Proprietary oil company measurements show some such barotropic currents with
maximum speeds near 40 cm-sd and periods of weeks. Moreover, data give some
indication of bottom current intensification. This class of barotropic currents, with
possible bottom intensification, is of the high interest to offshore operators attempting oil
production in water depths of 1,000 m and greater; measurements are ongoing in the
north central Gulf by the MMS and by offshore operators.
99
Now/in et aL: Physica/ Oceanography
Design speed (crn.s1)

0 50 100 150 200
I I
Loop Current Eddy
1,000
Topographic Rossby
2,000 (
wave activity
Possible boUom tensification

of Rossby wave
3,000
Figure 4.17. Schematic showing design currents in deepwater Gulf of Mexico for three classes of
phenomena: topographic Roasby waves, Loop Current eddies, and subsurface-intensified,
high-speed jets (shown by grey domain).
100
Figure 4.18. Current vectors (4Ohr low-passed; north directed upward) from Science Applications International Corporation mooring G located
in 3,200 m water depth at25°36.2'N, 85°29.8'W off the southern West Florida Shelf. Position is shown in Figure 4.7.
High-speed, Subsurface-intensified Currents

Several deepwater oil and gas operators have observed very high-speed,
subsurface-intensified currents lasting of the order of a day at locations over the upper
continental slopes. Such currents may have vertical extents of less than 100 m, with
maxima observed generally within the depth range of 100 to 300 m. Maximum speeds
exceeding 150 cm-s' have been reported. Figure 4.19 shows time-averaged current
profiles before, during, and after the occurrence of such a subsurface jet in Mississippi
Canyon in 1997. Total water depth at the location is estimated to be 800 to 900 m. The
profiles in the upper 100 in are similar, showing a strong surface current with average
speeds of about 30 cm-s1 at the surface decreasing to roughly 12 cm-s' at 100 m. Below
100 m the profiles for the periods before and after the jet event were essentially
barotropic at 8 to 10 crns. The profile during the event shows a strong current at
mid-depth with maximum averaged speeds greater than 30 cims1 near 300 m. Analyses
of individual profiles shows that peak currents generally occurred between 250 to 300 m
with a maximum speed of 56 cm-sd.
Examining data from locations in depths of 1,200 to 1,500 m, scientists at Texas A&M
University have observed currents with subsurface maximum speeds of 50 cms' lasting
for about 1 day with bursts of speed peaking at more than 100 cms1. The higher speed
currents appear to propagate upward, characteristic of baroclinic waves (either sub- or
super-inertial). An example is shown in Figure 4.20. It seems possible that such
phenomena could be intensified near topography. Causal mechanisms are being sought.
Model results also show short-period, subsurface-intensified currents over the Gulf
slopesbut with maximum speeds approaching only 50 cms1. Examples are shown in
Figure 4.21. More evidence for these phenomena is being sought in observations and in
model results.
Currents Responsible for Furrows
In early 1999, William Bryant of Texas A&M University (personal communication)

discovered and mapped, using a deep towed acoustic system, a previously unexplored
bedform just offshore of the Sigsbee Escarpment in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico.
These are large, long furrows eroded into the Holocene deposits blanketing this region.
These furrows have depths of 5 to 10 m, widths of several 1 Os of meters, are spaced on
the order of 100 m apart, and extend unbroken for distances of 1 Os or more km.
Generally they are oriented nearly along depth contours. Bryant has observed them in the
region of 90°W just off the Sigsbee Escarpment and near the Biyant Fan south of Bryant
Canyon from 9l°Wto 92.5°W. Depths in those regions range from 2,000 to 3,000 m.
More recently, the existence of these features has been corroborated and they have been
mapped more extensively in the area of Green's Knoll by offshore oil and gas operators.
Observations of furrows demonstrate that such bedforms are widespread and important
features in regions with cohesive, fine-grained sediments and directionally stable currents
(Flood 1983).
102
Mississippi Canyon ADCP velocity profile: April 1997
/
200
04112 20:01 -/
/ 1
04/1008:11-
04/12 19:51
04/15 14:21
I
K
04/07 02:21 -
04/1008:01
\
400
600
0 10 20 30 40
Speed (cms1)
Figure 4.19. Average current profiles before (thin line), during (thick line), and after (dashed line) a subsurface jet event in Mississippi Canyon
(data courtesy of Chevron).
1000
8m
40m -----
72 m
104 m
500
136m - ,L.-'- ..Jt-
I 68 m
200 m
232 m
264 m
0
296
328 m
360 m
392 m
47.4 -
-500
456 In
12: 16: 20: 0: 4: 8: 12: 16: 20: 0: 4: 8: 12: 16: 20:
28 29 30
April
1994
Figure 4.20. Acoustic Doppler current profiler current speed in Green Canyon Block 200 from 29 April
through 30 April 1994, showing 50 cms1 current event propagating upwards in the water
column beginning about 30 April. Distances shown are in meters from the instrument,
which was close to the surface. Data provided courtesy of Marathon.
104
Nowlin et al.: Physical Oceanography
Current Speed at 28.06° N, 90.55° W (KM)

cm-s-1 : nowoast ends at Dcc. 9
50
100
0) C'
a
150 I
200
28 6 16 26 6 16 26 8
Oct'98 Nov Dec Jan '99
Current Speed at 27.69N, 90.57° W (SH)

cm-s-1 :nowcast ends at Dcc. 9
0
50
100
150
E 200
250
o 300
350
400
450
500
28 6 16 26 6 16 26 8
Oct'98 Nov Dec Jan '99
I I I
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Figure 4.21. Time series of vertical profiles of currenpeeds from the Kantha model. Shown are two
Gulf of Mexico locations along 90.5°W in approximately 200 m (upper) and 1,000 m
(lower) water depths (courtesy of CCAR, http://www-ccar.colorado.edu/-jkchoi/
gomforecast. html).
105
It appears that the processes responsible for these furrows are active at present. Based on
the change in character of these features from offshore toward the escarpment, and on the
rather good agreement of that change with changes observed in published laboratory
studies of submarine erosion (e.g, Dzulynski 1965; Allen 1969), the tentative conclusion
is that bottom currents responsible for these features have along-isobath components and
increase in strength toward the escarpment. Such work attributes the furrows to rows of
counter-rotating helical currents generally directed along the furrows with rising parts of
the helixes over the furrows. No direct measurements have been reported. The
laboratory experiments indicate that furrows of different separation, wavelengths, and
fundamental character occur for different flow rates. However, it is difficult to scale
these model results to field conditions. Speculation is that near-bottom speeds of currents
responsible for the inshore furrows might be 50 cm-s' or even iii excess of 100 cm's1.
These currents might be sporadic or quasi-permanent. These furrows and the currents
responsible for them may also exist over a considerable part of the yet unexplored base of
the continental slope in the Gulf of Mexico.
The implications of these furrows and currents for oil and gas production are manifold.
Thse currents may represent a distinctly different phenomena, and thus problems, than
the other classes of currents observed to date and presently under consideration.
Effects of Shelf/Slope Canyons and Other Rough Topography

Submarine canyons may be conduits for exchanges of shelf and slope waters.
Observations and model studies of canyons outside the Gulf of Mexico suggest that
currents near the bottom tend to align with the canyon topography (e.g.. Han et al. 1980)
and that eddies which induce upwelling can form over the canyons near the shelf (e.g.,
Freeland and Denman 1982). The major canyons in the northern Gulf of Mexico are
De Soto Canyon and Mississippi Canyon. De Soto Canyon is the broader of the two
canyons. It nearly separates the Mississippi-Alabama shelf from the shelf off the Florida
panhandle. The Mississippi Canyon is narrower and is located southwest of the
Mississippi River Delta at about 90°W, Other rough topographical features of interest
are the Sigsbee Escarpment and the many canyons inshore thereof off Texas-Louisiana
and the Florida Escarpment off west Florida. The furrows and possible intense currents
associated with them are located off the Sigsbee Escarpment (see discussion of deep
currents).
Drennan (1968) summarized hydrographic investigations conducted from 1963 through

1965 over the east Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama-west Florida panhandle shelves in the
northeast Gulf of Mexico. He concluded that the De Soto Canyon bathymetry influences
the horizontal circulation over the vicinity of the shelf edge in spring and early summer.
During that time, a current flowed from the Mississippi Delta toward De Soto Canyon
along the shelf edge. As this current moved over the canyon, it branched into a
component that turned north in response to the bottom topography and a component that
flowed toward the southeast. De Soto Canyon may act as a conduit for intrusion of deep
waters onto the upper slope and shelf, as observed in May 1998 where cool water was
106
Now/in et al.; Physical Oceanography
pushed onto the shelf west of Cape San Bias (Nowlin et al. 1998a), and of energetic
surface currents excited by the Loop Current or associated frontal eddies (e.g.,
Ebbesmeyer et al. 1982; Huh et al. 1981).
In a numerical modeling study of flow over shelf-canyon systems, Howard (1992) found
that quasi-geostrophic flow across a canyon generates small scale eddies through vortex
stretching processes and nonlinearities in the dynamics; these eddies freely propagate
away from the canyon. He also found that wider canyons contain better organized eddy
flows. During MMS-sponsored observations over the northeastern Gulf of Mexico
shelves, both cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies were observed over the head of De Soto
Canyon; similar eddies have been observed over other canyons and in numerical models
(see e.g., Freeland and Denman 1982). A 1996-1999 study of the currents and
hydrography over De Soto Canyon, being conducted for the MMS by SAIC, should
provide added insights into the effect of Dc Soto Canyon on the circulation over the
upper slope.
It was noted in discussing tidal currents that such currents in the deepwater region of the
Gulf are very small. In the vicinity of canyons, however, the tidal currents may be more
energetic. At the Mississippi Canyon mooring in 300 m water depth (indicated by
MCTAMU in Figure 4.7), both the diurnal and semi-diurnal tidal currents were of
amplitude >1 cims1 at 50 m off the bottom as compared to <0.1 cm-s' (in the noise level)
away from the canyon. The orientation of the tidal currents was along the canyon axis at
the mooring location. The diurnal tidal current amplitudes appeared to be bottom
intensified, being >2 cms1 at 5 m off the bottom.
Direct current measurements in Mississippi Canyon are sparse. However, Lo (1999)

conducted a modeling study of the buoyancy-driven flow over the Texas-Louisiana shelf
that included the Mississippi Canyon. He found that a near-surface, offshore westward
current split into two branches as it approached the canyon: one branch flowed across the
canyon toward shore and the other formed a slope current along isobaths. He further
found that an anticyclonic eddy was located near the head of the canyon and induced
upwelling at the head of the canyon as water moved from depth onto the shelf along the
canyon axis, consistent with the linear theory of geostrophic adjustment (see e.g.,
Freeland and Denman 1982; Klinck 1989; Howard 1992) and similar to observations over
Dc Soto Canyon noted above.
Numerical Modeling
Types of Models and Studies
Numerical studies of the three-dimensional (3 -D) circulation in the Gulf of Mexico

(GOM) have employed primarily three generic types of models based upon the primitive
equations of motion (enforcing mass, momentum, and energy conservation). The first
type is the n-layer, quasi-Lagrangian model as in the studies of Hurlburt and Thompson
(1980) and Murphy et al. (1999), and is most useful when thermohaline aspects are of
secondary concern to the dynamics. Fulerian models (those employing a fixed 3-D grid)
can, most easily accommodate both thermodynamic and dynamic aspects. Such models
107
Nowlin et al.: Physical Oceanography
using fixed z-levels are of the Bryan-Cox type (Sturges et al. 1993; Inoue and Welsh
1997) or the Sandia-type (Dietrich 1992; Dietrich and Lin 1994). Finally the most widely
used Eulerian model in GOM applications is the Princeton Ocean Model (POM),
developed by Blurnberg and Mellor (1983) and adapted to a curvilinear grid by Blurnberg
and Herring (1984). The POM employs fixed values of the depth-following "sigma"
coordinate (zlh, where h is water depth). Applications of this model have been used in
GOM process studies (Oey 1995), cliinatological studies (Herring and Patchen 1997;
Herring 1999), and hindcast, nowcast, and forecast studies by (Kantha and Piacsek 1993;
Choi and Kantha 1997; and Herring 1999).
Table 4.7 gives a capsulization, including the horizontal and vertical grid resolution for
the different models iii the GOM applications. One concern regarding the use of the
sigma coordinate is the possible error in rendition of the horizontal pressure gradient and
associated error in current (Haney 1991; Mellor et al. 1994). In order to minimize such
error the vertical resolution over the steep continental slope must be consistent with the
horizontal resolution. Specifically the number of cross-slope intervals on the slope
should be compatible with the number of vertical intervals (as in the stair-step rendition
of the seabed in a z-coordinate model). It is not clear how close this condition is met in
all applications for the Gulf of Mexico, so this could be a source of difference among
models. Another is differences in the parameterization of the sub-grid-scale along- and
cross- isopycnal mixing of properties. The latter has an important impact on the shedding
of eddies from the Loop Current.
The model studies discussed herein differ in their focus and in their domain. The
emphasis in the studies by Oey (1995) using the POM model and Dietrich (1992, 1997)
using the Sandia type model is on processes, including shelf dynamics, eddy-eddy and
eddy-slope interaction. The early focus of the Dynalysis GOM studies was in hindcasting
and climatology, and more recently in forecasting (Herring and Patchen 1997; Herring
1999). The Kantha model applications emphasize nowcasting/forecasting, including
satellite altimeter and MCSST data assimilation (Choi and Kantha 1997). Although all of
these model applications included local wind stress over the GUM, they are primarily
driven by specified inflow to the GUM (or to the northwest region of the Caribbean Sea),
and outflow from the Straits of Florida that is constrained to have the same volume
transport as the inflow. The other studies considered here employ large closed domains
over which the forcing is primarily by winds.
The focus of Sturges et al. (1993) and of Inoue and Welsh (1997), using the Bryan and
Cox type model, was on relation of mesoscale variability in the upper to that in the lower
layers of the GUM. The model domain in those studies includes a subregion of the North
Atlantic and all of the Caribbean Sea, closed by walls at 36N, 49°W, and 9'N. Hence
the forcing was via North Atlantic winds. Finally, the study by Murphy et al. (1999),
employing the NRL n-layer model (Wallcraft 1991), was also wind driven and of global
domain. But its primary focus was on anticyclonic eddies that are spawned by the eastern
retroflection of the North Brazil Current. These eddies grow within the Caribbean Sea,
and some even squeeze through the Yucatan Channel to affect the evolution of the Loop
Current. This raises the question as to real time monitoring of inflow to the GUM for
predictive models. We address this question in a later section.
108
Table 4.7. Comparison of relevant properties of several ocean circulation models applied to the Gulf of Mexico
Maximum
Horizontal Levels or Shedding Typical flow
Model Reference current Remarks
Resolution layers period (mo)
(cm 1)
near2000m
2-layer Hurlburt and 20km 1.5 &2 10.8 (327d) 73 At rest for Extensive
Thompson 1980 layers most runs sensitivity tests
Bryan-Cox type Sturgesetal. 1993 1/40 12 fixed z 6.9 (30 wk) 100 Cyclone-anti Closed domain
levels cyclone pairs
Bryan-Cox type Inoue and Welsh 1/80 33 fixedz 6.9 (30 wk 100 Cyclone-anti Closed domain
1997 levels cyclone pairs
Sandia SOMS Dietrich and Lin 20km 16 fixed z 9.9 (300 d) 75 Cyclonic Eddy shedding
1994 levels basin scale tests
POM Oey Oey 1995 20km 20 fixed i/h Irregular 8 to Order of 100 Not available Shelf process
version sigma levels 13 study
POM Dynalysis Herring and Patchen 4-14km 15 fixed 7 to 20 for Order of 100 Cyclonic Hindcast and 0
version 1997 except in SW sigma levels different basin scale climate study
region conditions
POM Kantha Kantha and Piacsek 1/50 and 21 fixed Order of 10 Order of 100 Not available Assimilation of
version 1997 1/12° sigma levels SSH and SST
N-layer NRL Murphy etal. 1999 1/4° in 5.5 & 6 Not Order of 100 Not available Global domain 0
version Gulf and layers applicable
Caribbean 0
0
0
Now/in et al: Physical Oceanography
Eddy Shedding Aspects
Clearly the cycle of intrusion of the Loop Current and the shedding of energetic eddies is
the most important aspect of the GOM circulation which a realistic numerical simulation
should get right. The numerical experiments in the early 1970's with linear andlor
fplane models of the GOM could not pass this test. Huriburt and Thompson (1980) were
the first to simulate the shedding of anticyclonic eddies (i.e., warm core rings) from the
Loop Current, using a nonlinear two-layer numerical model that allowed planetary
vorticity tendency (beta effect. Huriburt and Thompson also demonstrated that the mean
shedding period depends inversely on the square root of the maximum inflow speed and
inversely on the buoyancy parameter (thermal stability). Their experiments showed that
a periodic eddy shedding could occur with the lower layer at rest, even with steady inflow
conditions in Yucatan Channel. Hurlburt and Thompson attributed the mechanism for
shedding of eddies to barotropic instability, while the periodic property they related to the
time for the Loop Current to reach its maximum intrusion after the spawning of an eddy.
However, the shedding can be shut down if the horizontal mixing of momentum is too
large, as in the earliest POM applications for the GOM (Bluniberg and Mellor 1985).
Unlike the characteristics of warm core and cold core rings shed from the Gulf Stream in
the North Atlantic (Chassignet 1992; Sturges et al. 1993), the LCEs are always warm
core and are always shed in about the same place. Recognizing this, Pichevin and Nof
(1997) now attribute the shedding of eddies associated with the retroflection of any major
culTent system (like the Loop Current) to the requirement for a momentum balance for
the system, in a time average sense. An important aspect of their analytic study is that it
predicts the size of the eddies to be significantly larger than that deduced from the
baroclinic radius of deformation. This may explain the greater size of the LCE compared
with the North Atlantic warm core rings (beyond that due to the latitude difference).
All of the GOM model applications given in Table 4.7 produce eddy shedding. The
mean period of shedding varies from one application to another and is tunable to a certain
degree, dependent upon the inflow conditions, the buoyancy parameter, and the lateral
mixing coefficient for momentum. The application by Oey (1995) indicates a desired
chaotic character of the shedding with a period range from 8 to 13 months. The
Dynalysis 12 year climatological run, using a Smagorinsky (lateral mixing) coefficient of
0.05, exhibits a range of shedding from 9 to 23 months (Vukovich 1996). As discussed
in n earlier section, the observed range is from about 4 to 16 months (Sturges et al.
1993). Further adjustment of the Smagorinsky coefficient could bring these POM models
more in agreement with the observations, but even the latter is only about a 25 year
sample, and hence is subject to uncertainty. The encouraging thing is that these two
applications do demonstrate a chaotic character of shedding, similar to the real observed
conditions.
Both the Dynalysis and Oey model domains include the northwestern part of the
Caribbean Sea, while most applications of the Kantha model do not. In the study by Oey
(1995), he found that eddy separations were often followed by a reversal in the flow of
deep water near the Yucatan sill, so as to return water to the Caribbean Sea (Oey,
110
Now/in et a/.: Physical Oceanography
personal communication). We speculate that this interaction of the two basins may be
important in the separation process and its chaotic character. It may also be important in
governing the circulation in the layer between 800 and 2,000 in (the sill depths for Straits
of Florida and Yucatan Channel, respectively). The results of the Dynalysis
climatological study show that this layer has a mean cyclonic circulation in the eastern
Gulf, in opposition to the mean anticyclonic circulation of the Loop Current in the upper
800 m (Herring and Patchen 1997). The studies based on the Bryan-Cox type model
(Sturges et al. 1993; Inoue and Welsh 1997) support this result.
Other Skill Assessment
The MMS funded the LATEX measurement and data analysis program for the
northwestern Gulf of Mexico as well as the numerical hindcast and climatology study of
GUM circulation carried out by Dynalysis of Princeton. Skill assessment of the
Dynalysis model results was addressed by an independent team including C. N. K.
Mooers from the University of Miami, P. P. Niiler from Scripps Institution of
Oceanography, M. Inoue and W. J. Wiseman from Louisiana State University, and
F. M. Vukovich from SAIC at Raleigh, NC. They addressed the model skill with respect
to response to synoptic time and space scale wind forcing, including a simulation of
hurricane Andrew, as well as extratropical storms which occurred during the LATEX
measurement time window (April 1992 to December 1994). They also addressed the
monthly and seasonal climatology, including of course the Loop Current and LCE
characteristics. Final reports have presumably been submitted to MMS from the skill
assessment group, but were not available to the authors at the time of writing this
literature survey. 1-lowever, an interim report by Vukovich (1996) on eddy shedding skill
(discussed earlier), and one by Mooers (1996) on near coastal current skill, were
available to one of the authors from a project meeting at Dynalysis in March 1996. Some
important aspects of Mooers' analysis are discussed below.
Included in the many runs of the Dynalysis model were hindcasts using synoptic wind
fields employing point specific buoy data blended with ECMWF wind fields, for a time
window encompassing the LATEX current measurement period (April 1992 to December
1994). The Mooers (1996) interim report provides results of auto- and cross-spectra of
the simulated eastward and northward current components at 100 m depth, for the shelf
break LATEX current meter moorings 7 to 11 (between 92° and 95W along the 200-m
isobath). The spectra are based on a time window spanning the three calendar years
1992 to 1994, and cover the frequency range from about 0.01 to 12 cpd. The autospectra
for all of the simulated mooring positions are very similar for given current component.
They show statistically significant peaks at about 0.2, 1.0, and 5 cpd. Moreover, the
coherence among the five mooring positions is high with westward propagation indicated
for the 0.2 cpd peak.
Visual comparisons between observed between observed and simulated time sequences
of currents at the Texas-Louisiana shelf break indicated low correlation (presumably
related to the influence of the LCE impacting the shelf differently in the model versus the
observations). However, the current spectra deduced from the LATEX observations
111
(DiMarco et al. 1997) for the middle meter (at 100 m depth) for moorings 7 to 11 do
indicate a peak at about 0.2 cpd. For mooring 9 the observed peak at 0.2 cpd and that
simulated by the Dynalysis model are both about the same magnitude. Although the
coherence among the observed shelf break currents data was low, the studies of Hamilton
(1990) using current meter data on the continental slope support the existence of
westward propagating topographic Rossby waves.
Status of NowcastfForecasts
Two operational nowcast/forecasts of GOM circulation are presently in existence and

available on the world wide web. One is for the coastal region north of about 25N being
carried out by Dynalysis as part of the NOPP Ocean Monitoring Program (Herring 1999).
The other is the Gulf wide nowcast/forecasts carried out by the Kantha, Choi, Leben team
at CCAR (Choi et al. 1995; Choi and Kantha 1997). The lafter effort is supported by the
petroleum industry Consortium for Analysis Studies of Eddies (CASE) because a
knowledge of the position and strengths of LCEs is vital in offshore drilling and recovery
operations for oil and gas.
An important finding of the LATEX program (Nowlin et al. 1998a) was that about 50%
of the variance of subtidal observed currents on the Texas-Louisiana inner shelf (water
depths of 50 rn or less) can be explained by the winds. We would therefore expect that
the coastal nowcasts of currents by the Dynalysis operational model would have a skill
that at least matches this finding for that region. The skill for forecasts, however, is
heavily dependent upon the skill of the wind forecast model used to locally drive that
model. Real time observations of near surface currents at several sites over the Texas
shelf are available from the Texas Automated Buoy System (TABS), which is jointly
supported by the Texas General Land Office and the S of the Department of Interior.
Spot checks of the Dynalysis near-surface current predictions over the Texas shelf
indicates reasonable skill for the daily average current. The observed TABS currents
show large near inertial motion superimposed on the low frequency along shelf flow.
Reversals in flow from upcoast to downcoast or vice versa can follow reversals of local
winds within a day. The model predictions track such changes well as long as the wind
predictions are correct. The wind fields used in the predictions are supplied by the NCEP
mesoscale ETA forecast model.
The CCAR (Choi et al. 1995) data assimilative model is reasonably accurate in nowcasts
of the Loop Current and large energetic eddies. The SSHA deduced from satellite
altimeter data represents a blending over time and space of TOPEX and ERS-2 data, and
is most accurate for large scale features. The method of assimilation of the SSHA and of
SST data is discussed in the application of the Kantha-Piacsek model by Horton et al.
(1997). A primary limitation in the forecasting of changes in the Loop Current and
associated LCE is the present lack of real time monitoring of inflow to the GUM.
Motivated by this need, the Eddy Joint Industry Program (EJIP) together with the NOPP
Ocean Monitoring Program are carrying out a series of aerial and ship surveys along one
of the TOPEX tracks (number 65) across the western Caribbean Sea. The purpose is to
provide the calibration of that track so as to allow real time estimates of the S SHA and
112
Now/in et a/.: Physical Oceanography
associated geostrophic inflow to the western Caribbean and hence to the GUM. In the
meantime, the CCAR model domain has been extended into the Caribbean, with the
TOPEX track 65 serving as the new open boundary (personal communication with Choi).
By monitoring inflow in real time along this track, forecasts of changes within the GUM
should be improved, since the advection of the boundary information into the Gulf
requires several weeks.
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121
Chapter 5: Chemical Oceanography
Mahion C. Kennicutt II
Introduction 123
Dissolved Gases 124
Dissolved Solids 125
Nutrients 125
Dissolved Organic Matter 127
Dissolved Metals 129
Particulate Matter 130
Particulate Organic Matter 131
Particulate Inorganic Matter 132
The Chemistry of Natural Seepage 133
Brine Seepage 133
Hydrocarbon Seepage 134
Conclusions 135
Introduction
The Gulf of Mexico is a semi-closed sea that receives the bulk of its water from inflows
from the Caribbean Sea through the Yucatan Channel with outflow through the Straits of
Florida. The origins of the water establish the initial chemical characteristics of water
masses within the basin. After inflow, the chemical composition of these water masses
are then modified by a number of processes including in situ processes such as biological
activity (which transfonns nutrients to biomass and produces oxygen), mixing, and
upwelling. In addition, large amounts of runoff enter from the river systems that ring the
basin. Runoff from approximately two-thirds of the United States arid more than half of
Mexico empties into the Gulf of Mexico. These discharges regularly introduce a range of
dissolved and particulate materials to the basin. Atmospheric transport, through wet and
dry deposition, is another pathway that introduces chemicals to the basin. These
processes can also introduce contaminants to the basin. In addition, activities occurring
within the basin proper (shipping, oil and gas exploration and production, etc.) can
introduce contaminants to the water and sediments.
This review summarizes what is known about the chemistry of the open water Gulf of
Mexico (GUM) between water depths of 300 and 3,000 in. Geologic setting is important
when considering the chemical oceanography of the deep GUM. The basin is
characterized by wide continental shelves effectively isolating the deeper GUM from the
direct influences of many coastal processes. The slope is characterized by steep inclines
and a complex topography. Once deposited, sediments can be redistributed by mass
wasting and slumping. These basinal features are important influences on the chemical
composition of deep sea water and sediments. Another important feature of the
deepwater GUM is that this region is underlain by large accumulations of salt, oil, and
gas that have migrated nearly vertically into surficial sediments. The salt in contact with
123
Kennicutt: Chemical Oceanography
porewaters produces brines that migrate into near-surface sediments. Salt movement
creates the tectonic forces that influence local topography. This same salt movement also
creates subsurface conduits that allow liquids and gases to seep into near-surface
sediments and the overlying water column. The active petroleum system that underlies
the deep northern GUM has an important effect on the chemical characteristics of the
slope environment as well. The leaky nature and immense volumetrics of the petroleum
system allow the introduction of large amounts of petroleum hydrocarbons into the basin
from below. Imprinted over these natural introductions of chemicals are inputs from
anthropogenic activities.
The interactions of sources and sinks mediated by complex biogeochemical processes are
the framework that establishes the spatial and temporal patterns of chemicals in the water
and the sediments of the deepwater northern GUM.
Dissolved Gases
The water overlying the deepwater GUM contains a range of dissolved constituents
whose distributions lend clues to the relative importance of various biochemical
processes in establishing the observed chemical distribution. Dissolved constituents
include gases and solids. The dissolved gases include carbon dioxide (CU2), oxygen,
nitrogen, and other trace gases such as methane and hydrogen. The basic control on the
concentrations of gases in near-surface waters is exchange with the atmosphere.
Secondarily, gases such as oxygen, CU2, and methane have their distributions altered by
biological and/or other processes, i.e., they are non-conservative. The distribution of
inert gases (such as nitrogen) are primarily affected by physical redistribution processes
including mixing and diffusion, i.e., they are conservative.
A complete discussion of the CO2 system is beyond the scope of this review. However,
the salient points of the CO2 system that are operative in the water masses of interest to
this review are briefly discussed. Carbon dioxide concentrations are the end result of the
interaction of biological processes (photosynthetic uptake and respiratory production),
water transport, and surface heating and cooling that drives the air/sea partitioning of CU2
(Riley and Chester 1971). Carbon dioxide concentrations in surface waters vary
temporally on scales from hours to months (seasonal). In the open deepwater GUM, the
equilibrium concentrations of CO2 are predictable since the overall size of the carbon
pooi is large and the concentration of living organisms is relatively low compared to
more isolated and smaller bodies of water where CO2 concentrations and speciation can
be highly variable in space and time. Below the thermocline, CO2 concentrations are
affected only by advection, diffusion, and the biological oxidation of organic matter.
Total CU2 rises sharply below the thermocline and increases to a maximum at a depth of
500 to 1,000 m coinciding with the oxygen minimum
Dissolved oxygen is another biologically active gas and is an important product of

photosynthesis. As for CO2, the initial control on dissolved oxygen concentrations is
exchange with the atmosphere. Near-surface oxygen levels are augmented by
124
photosynthesis. Below the surface layer, a layer of oxygen supersaturated water tends to
develop as this is the site of intense biological activity. Below the photic zone,
respiration, which produces CU2 and consumes oxygen, increases to a point where it
exceeds the oxygen production and an oxygen minimum develops. The GUM oxygen
minimum layer develops outside of the GUM and enters the GOM as an established
water mass property through the Yucatan Channel (Wust 1964). This low oxygen layer
spreads across the GOM and can intersect the seabed on the continental slope. Typical
oxygen values are 3.5 to 4.5 mLL1 in the upper 200 m, 2.5 to 3.5 mL'L at 200 to
500 m, and 2.5 to 5.5 mLL' in water depths >500 in (Nowlin 1972).
Trace gases in the deepwater GUM can have an atmospheric and a biological source. In
particular, methane exhibits near surface water maxima similar to dissolved oxygen.
Methane is believed to be biologically produced in situ. An additional source of methane
is water advected from the adjacent shelf where sedimentary porewater methane diffuses
into the overlying water column. Methane concentrations have been shown to be
associated with indicators of phytoplankton biomass (ATP) and with suspended
particulate matter maxima (Brooks et al. 1981). Methane appears to be formed in situ in
the reducing microenvironments associated with suspended particulates, some of which
are advected into deeper water from the shelf (Brooks et al. 1981). Typical methane
values are 50 to 250 nLL1 in the upper 200 m of the water column and 10 to 40 nLL1 in
deeper waters distant from natural gas seeps. Significant amounts of methane and higher
molecular weight hydrocarbons are introduced to the water column from natural seepage.
In deeper waters, methane is stored in gas hydrate and the methane can have a biologic or
thermogenic origin.
Dissolved Solids
In addition to dissolved gases, deepwater GUM water masses contain dissolved solids.
The most obvious is "sea salt," which is primarily sodium chloride with smaller amounts
of a range of cations and anions. Salinity distributions in the study area are discussed
elsewhere. In addition to salt, the water masses contain dissolved nutrients, dissolved
organic carbon, and dissolved metals. The primary nutrients are nitrate, phosphate, and
silicate and are essential elements for the growth of organisms. Dissolved organic matter
(DUM) and metals are derived from several sources. In deepwater areas, the DUM can
be quite old, reflecting the long term accumulation of microbially resistant DOM from
marine and riverine sources. DOM can be both natural and anthropogenic in origin.
Dissolved metals can be derived from riverine inputs and resuspension of sediments. As
for DOM, dissolved metals also can be natural or anthropogenic in origin.
Nutrients
Nutrient concentrations and distributions in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico are controlled
by a combination of biogeochemical and physical processes (Armstrong 1974). The
processes that control nutrient concentrationsriver discharges, coastal currents and
winds, upwelling, biological activity, and rainfallare operative to some degree in the
deepwater GUM. In near-bottom waters, remineralization of organic matter can liberate
125
nutrients into the overlying water column. Excess or enhanced nutrient levels can
contribute to plankton blooms followed by oxygen depletion due to organic matter decay.
On the outer continental shelf and in deeper waters, differences in nutrient concentrations
between surface water and bottom waters are substantial. Nutrient concentrations
increase from below the detection limit in surface waters to maximum values in the
deepwater GUM. Waters as deep as 70 m tend to be nutrient-poor. An abrupt increase in
nutrient concentrations occurs between 70 and 100 m water depth. This vertical structure
develops as a result of the fixation of nutrients into biomass by phytoplarikton in the
euphotic zone and remineralization of organic matter in deeper waters. These processes
occur basin-wide and are key to establishing the chemical characteristics of the water
masses in the deepwater GUM.
Nitrogen is essential for life and provides an important chemical building block for many
organic compounds such as amino acids and proteins. Nitrogen occurs in seawater as
dissolved molecular gas (N2) and inorganic and organic compounds. The principal
inorganic forms of nitrogen in seawater are nitrate (NO3), nitrite (NO2D, and ammonia.
Seawater also contains minute amounts of other inorganic compounds as well as
dissolved and particulate organic nitrogen compounds. The distribution of the maj or
inorganic nitrogen species in the deepwater GUM is controlled by biological processes.
Once incorporated into biomass, nitrogenous materials are redistributed in the water
column due to sinking of the detrital remains of dead organisms and upwelling of deeper
waters to the near surface. These processes, operating in unison, establish a nitrogen
cycle." While phytoplankton normally synthesize proteins from nitrate, nitrite and
ammonia, bacteria preferentially incorporate organic nitrogen. During metabolism,
nitrogenous material, mainly in the form of urea, is excreted by living organisms. The
nitrogen cycle is not a closed system in that nitrogenous material is deposited in
sediments and various forms of nitrogen enter the GOM in river and rain water.
Important processes that control the distribution of nitrogen in the open water GUM
include nitrogen fixation, assimilation of fixed nitrogen, and regeneration of nitrogen.
Most nitrogen assimilation occurs in the euphotic zone whereas regeneration of nitrate
occurs throughout the water column and in the sediments. This offset in the spatial
juxtaposition of these processes establishes the commonly observed vertical
heterogeneity observed in water column profiles of inorganic nitrogen. Because the
distribution of nitrogenous materials is primarily influenced by biological processes,
there is a strong seasonal variation in concentrations. Typical nitrate concentrations are 0
to 20 M in the upper 200 m of the water column and 20 to 30 iM in waters deeper than
200 m.
As another nutritive element required by living organisms, the same input and removal
processes control the distribution of phosphorus in the open waters of the GOM as do
nitrogen. Phosphorus occurs in seawater in a variety of dissolved and particulate forms.
Inorganic phosphorus is predominantly in the form of orthophosphate ions (PU43).
Dissolved phosphorus in seawater also occurs as organic compounds mostly derived from
the decomposition of organismal remains and excretion from living organisms.
Phosphorus occurs in the particulate form in seawater in association with living
organisms and detrital remains from dead organisms. As for nitrogen, a "phosphorus
126
cycle" has developed in the open waters of the GUM. Removal mechanisms include
sedimentation and inputs are derived from riverine discharges, rainfall, and regeneration
in the water column and sediments. Phytoplankton usually satisfy their phosphorus needs
by direct assimilation of dissolved orthophosphate followed by metabolic transformation
to organophosphorus compounds (phospholipids, phosphonucleotides, etc.). In the open
water GUM, phosphorus is generally available in amounts exceeding the needs of the
resident organisms. Bacteria satisfy their nutritional needs for phosphorus from detritus
and are an active component, in addition to intracellular enzymes, in the process of
regeneration of phosphorus. The close coupling of phosphorus to biological processes
results in strong temporal variations usually associated with the seasons. Vertical and
spatial heterogeneity in phosphate distributions reflects the dynamic interplay of sources
and removal processes. Differences in the locations where these processes occur
establish the observed spatial gradients and patterns in phosphate concentrations. Typical
phosphate concentrations are 0 to 1.0 LM in the upper 200 m of the water column and 1.0
to 1.8 p.M in waters deeper than 200 m.
Silicon is present in seawater in both dissolved and particulate forms. The dissolved
form is commonly determined as silicate (SiO4). A major source of silicon to the GUM
is the subaerial weathering of rocks followed by riverine transport to the sea. Within the
water column there are many organisms, including diatoms and radiolarians, that have
skeletons composed of hydrated silica-opal. Upon their demise, the siliceous skeletons
slowly dissolve in seawater as they sink to the underlying sediments. High
concentrations of silicon are observed in inshore regions and can account for as much as
60% of the water column particulate matter depending on geographic location. Seawater
is undersaturated with respect to silicon and therefore dissolution is almost always an
ongoing process. The incorporation of silicon into biological structural components is an
efficient mechanism of removing silica from seawater. These materials are also
efficiently transported and deposited to the sediments due to the rapid settling and slow
dissolution rates. The open water GOM contains several groups of plants (diatoms) and
animals that require silicon to maintain their structural integrity. The concentration of
silicon in open surface waters is generally low except in regions of upwelling due to the
uptake by organisms in the euphotic zone. As with the other nutrients, the close coupling
of silicon with biological processes produces spatial and temporal variations in its
distribution and patterns. The "silicon cycle" produces heterogeneous patterns in time
and space that reflect the balance of sources and removal processes. Each process can be
more or less important depending on the local setting producing significant regional
variations in silicon distributions. Typical silicate concentrations are 0 to 10 p.M in the
upper 200 m of the water column and 10 to 24 p.M in waters deeper than 200 in.
Dissolved Organic Matter
DOM is defined as that material which passes through a 0.5 micron filter and includes
truly dissolved material as well as colloidal matter. The primary origin of DOM is
biological organisms either through exudates or decomposition of detrital remains The
dissolved portion of organic matter can include a wide range of anthropogenic
compounds such as hydrocarbons and other man-made chemicals (DDT, etc.). DOM in
127
the study area arises from riverine and atmospheric transport, decay of dead organisms,
algal metabolic exudates, and zooplankton and larger animal excretions. Riverine
derived DOM is primarily composed of leachates from humic materials and the
decomposition of vegetable matter. Riverine DOM can also include sewage and
industrial effluents. In open GUM waters, in situ biological activity is an important
source of new DOM. Two processes that produce DOM in the open water GUM are the
lysis of cells and the bacterial degradation of organic matter. Algae are known to
produce appreciable amounts of excretion products. Zooplankton and other marine
animals excrete DOM as well. The excretion products are generally nitrogenous in
nature including urea, purines, and amino acids.
DOM is usually measured as dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Few measures of DUC in
the deepwater GUM have been reported. Deepwater GUM DUC concentrations vary
from 0.5 to >2.0 mgL (Fredericks and Sackett 1970). DOC values are highest on the
shelf, lower in the surface waters of the open Gulf, and lowest in the deep open GOM.
Open GOM surface water (0 to 90 m) concentrations ranged from 0.45 to 1.07 mgCU1
with a mean of 0.79 and deepwater (90 to 3,600 m) DOC concentrations varied from 0.33
to 0.94 mgC-L4 with a mean of 0.52. Other observations at a few slope stations reported
DOC concentrations ianging from 45 to 130 micromolar, with 30% to 60% of the DOC
being high molecular weight depending on location and season (Bianchi et al. 1997). As
in the previous study, DOC generally decreased from shelf to slope waters and from
surface to bottom waters. These and other studies suggest that a large portion of
terrestrially derived DUC is preserved and transported to open GUM waters. DOC
generally exceeds particulate organic carbon (POC) concentrations by a factor of 10 to
20, accounting for most of the organic carbon in a typical water column.
DOM is believed to be primarily complex macromolecules that are resistant to bacterial

degradation thus accounting for the old age of DOM in deep GUM waters. DOM can
contain amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids, and vitamins. In addition, anthropogenic
chemicals can occur in a dissolved state as well. One class of compounds of interest is
the hydrocarbons. Lower molecular weight hydrocarbons are at least sparingly soluble in
seawater. In particular, those compounds referred to as volatile organic compounds
(VOC) will be dissolved if they are present. In the deep sea portions of the GOM, these
hydrocarbons can be derived from ship traffic, tanker discharges, discharges from
offshore platforms (produced waters), spills, and natural seepage. In general, dissolved
VOC and higher molecular weight hydrocarbons are below detection limits other than in
areas close to discharge points. VOC rapidly equilibrate and degas to the atmosphere.
Hydrocarbons are also labile being subject to relatively rapid microbial degradation.
Most studies of dissolved hydrocarbons in the GUM have been restricted to shallow
waters and will not be reviewed here. Early studies by Iliffe and Calder (1974) detected
concentrations of extractable non-polar dissolved hydrocarbons in the GOM ranging from
trace amounts to 75 tgL' with the highest concentrations occurring in the Straits of
Florida. The hydrocarbons were primarily n-alkanes containing 15 to 20 carbons.
Atmospheric fallout and tanker traffic were mentioned as possible sources. It is also
unclear whether these hydrocarbons were truly dissolved. Sauer et al. (1978) and Sauer
128
(1980) found open GOM surface waters to contain 60 ngL' or less of volatile liquid
hydrocarbons (VLH) of mostly a biological origin. This contrasts with more polluted
coastal and shelf waters with concentrations of more than 500 ngL'. VLH were
composed of normal alkanes, cycloalkanes, arid aromatic hydrocarbons. Brine
discharges, tanker washings, and the underwater venting of waste gases were identified as
sources of VLH. In general, open water GOM dissolved hydrocarbons are at least an
order of magnitude lower in concentration than nearby shelf waters. No appreciable
levels of dissolved hydrocarbons have been detected in the open water GOM; however,
deepwater areas are not well studied. In areas of natural seepage, hydrocarbon
concentrations can be significantly elevated arid sea slicks are known to form in these
areas as well.
It is generally believed that biological organisms are primarily affected by exposure to

dissolved contaminants. In addition, organisms can ingest particulate contaminants
and/or in the case of hydrocarbons, be externally coated if the levels are high enough
(i.e., spills). As the main mechanism of bioaccurnulation, dissolved contaminants and the
associated organismal body burdens are often used to indicate exposure. A confounding
factor in recognizing organismal exposure to organic contaminants is that many
organisms, such as fish, are efficient at depurating toxic compounds. In particular,
aromatic hydrocarbons are transformed by enzymatic modifications and are excreted in
the bile. Therefore, contaminant body burdens may or may not reflect contaminant
exposure history. There are few studies of the concentrations of hydrocarbons in
organisms from the open GOM. Those organisms obligately associated with natural oil
and gas seeps are discussed elsewhere in this chapter. In one report, the levels of
benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, phenol, fluorene, benzo(a)pyrene, and
bis(2-ethylhexyhl)phthalate were either not detected or below the detection limit in
tissues from representative fish species at two platform sites in about 300 m of water
(Offshore Operators Committee 1997). While the amount of data in the open waters of
the GOM is limited, it is expected that most if not all organisms will be free of significant
arithropogenic contamination.
Dissolved Metals
Metals have both natural and anthropogenic sources in the deepwater GOM. Metals are
released during the weathering and decomposition of rocks (minerals, soils, etc.) and are
then transported to the basin in dissolved and particulate forms. Human activities can
also introduce metals to the water column from dumping of wastes, oil and gas
exploration and production activities, construction, and shipping. Few studies have
analyzed the concentration of dissolved metals in the deepwater GOM. Dissolved metals
that have been detected in riverine runoff include copper, nickel, chromium, arid
molybdenum. It has been estimated that less than 10% of the metals transported to the
sea are in the dissolved form (Trefry and Presley 1976). Atmospheric transport of metals
can also be a pathway that introduces metals to the basin. Direct anthropogenic
introduction of contaminants to the open water GOM occurred during the 1970's when
approved dumpsites were used to dispose of industrial wastes at one location 90 km
offshore off Southwest Pass in 1,000 m of water and a second site 220 km south of
129
Galveston. Exploration and production platforms are also known to discharge cuttings
and produced waters that contain dissolved arid particulate metals to the adjacent waters.
Open GOM surface waters had concentrations of 0.082 ppb for copper, 0.11 ppb for
nickel, and 0.0005 ppb for cadmium (Boyle et al. 1984). These levels were
approximately five times lower than those observed in coastal regions. For a second
sampling of surface waters in the northwestern GUM in water depths from 100 to
1,000 m, similar concentrations of dissolved copper, cadmium, and nickel were observed.
Higher values were indicated nearer to shore and nickel, copper, and cadmium
concentrations increased with water depth as a result of organic matter degradation.
Dissolved cadmium increased sharply with water depth and some deep samples were
10 times higher than near-surface samples. Other metal concentrations increased with
depth but the increases were less regular and were usually not more than by a factor of
two. Dissolved metal data in general suffers from artifacts due to the lack of clean
methods for sample collection because of the very low concentrations encountered. It is
also been noted that pore water dissolved metal concentrations are generally higher than
the overlying water suggesting that difftision of metals into the overlying water may be
an important source of some dissolved metals (Presley and Trefry 1980; Trefry and
Presley 1982). Dissolved metals have not been well studied in the deepwater GOM, but
the few reports suggest that dissolved metals occur at very low (>ppb) levels.
As for organic contaminants, it is generally believed that the most biologically available
component of metals is the dissolved fraction. As can be seen above, the levels of
dissolved metals in the open water GOM are expected to be extremely low in
concentration. As such, metals in orgariismal tissues would be expected to be low as
well. This was the conclusion of a study of trace metals in organism associated with two
platforms in about 300 m water depth in the northern GUM (Offshore Operators
Committee 1997). In representative fish species, collected in close proximity to
platforms, arsenic varied from 2 to 59 tgg', cadmium from not detectable to 0.82 tgg',
and mercury from 0.036 to 0.33 jig-g'. The fishes were collected at sites that were
discharging produced waters and sites that were not discharging produced waters. No
statistical differences could be detected between the sites, suggesting that natural
processes and not produced water discharges were responsible for the metal
concentrations observed in tissues. The concentrations detected were considered natural
background levels for fishes collected throughout the GUM.
Particulate Matter
In addition to the dissolved constituents described above, water masses in the deepwater
GUM also contain significant amounts of particulate matter. Particulate matter in the
water column of the open water GOM can be organic or inorganic, living or dead, and
natural or anthropogenic in origin. Particulate matter is defined as those materials that
are retained on a 0.5 micron filter. Particulate matter is often expressed as the weight of
total suspended matter (TSM). Typical TSM values range from 50 to 200 gL' in the
130
upper 200 in of the water column and 20 to 100 gL' in deeper waters (Feely et al.
1971) of the open water northern GOM.
Particulate Organic Matter

In the deepwater GUM, the particulate organic matter (POM) in the upper water column
is primarily detritus and phytoplankton. There are few studies of the distribution of POM
in the open water of the GOM. Phytoplankton are the living portion of POM and
generally account for 25% or less of the total particulate organic matter but this can be
highly variable in the euphotic zone. The living fraction may also contain bacteria, fungi,
and yeasts, with bacteria in some instances being a significant fraction of the bioinass.
With increasing depth below the euphotic zone, the living fraction of the POM decreases
rapidly. POM is usually 10 to 20 times lower in concentration than the DOM. POM is
usually measured as PUG. Typical POC concentrations range from 50 to 100 tgL1 in
the upper 200 m of the water column and 30 to 50 igL in waters deeper than 200 m in
the open water GUM (Feely et al. 1971).
Live phytoplankton are confined to the euphotic zone and the water lying immediately
beneath it (Riley and Chester 1971). The composition of this portion of the POM can
vary widely and the biological communities found in the water column are discussed
elsewhere. The living portion of the POM is composed of a wide anay of biochemicals
including proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and pigments. The non-living POM is also a
complex mixture of chemical compounds that varies with water depth. In the euphotic
zone, biochemical metabolites are a major fraction of the POC. Many of these
biochemicals are subject to rapid degradation as they settle through the water colunm.
The residual POM at depth is materials that are resistant to degradation such as cell walls
and exoskeletons. In the deepwater GOM, most of the water column POM will be
derived from phytoplankton but tenestrially-sourced POM contributes as well.
POC in the euphotic zone is spatially and temporally highly variable due to it primary
origin in biological organisms. POC is high in the upper water column and decreases
with depth due to remineralization as the particulates sink through the water column.
Below a depth of 200 m, POC values become relatively constant. An estimate of the
amount of living POC can be based on chlorophyll a concentrations. Plankton biomass in
the open Gulf of Mexico is considered to be low with values of 100 to 150 n1gm3
compared to regions near the Mississippi River of 200 to 1,000 mgm3 (Khromov 1965;
Bodganov et al. 1968). Profiles of chlorophyll a show low values near the surface
followed by maximum concentrations at 50 to 110 m coinciding with the bottom of the
euphotic zone, the pycnocline, or the nutricline (El-Sayed 1972; Hobson and Lorenzen
1972). Similar distributions of POC and chlorophyll a are expected in the open water
GUM.
Included in the POM are anthropogenic chemicals including hydrocarbons and metals.
The higher molecular weight hydrocarbons are non-polar and often occur primarily
adsorbed onto particulates. Few studies are available on the distribution of seawater
particulate hydrocarbons in the study area. It is expected that the concentrations will be
131
lower than those for adjacent coastal and shelf waters. Water colunm particulate
hydrocarbons originate from spills, platform discharges, and shipping activities. Some
small, but unknown, input of atmospherically transported POM might also contribute
terrestrial hydrocarbons (i.e., plant biowaxes). Resuspension of sediments is another
important mechanism for introducing particulates into the water column, especially
hydrocarbon-rich particulates in areas of known oil and gas seepage.
A special class of POM is pelagic tars. A summary of the distribution of pelagic tarballs
in the GUM indicates that they are ubiquitous (Geyer 1980; Brooks 1981; Van Vleet et
al. 1984). Tarballs are found in most surface neuston tows in the GUM (Jeffrey 1973,
1977, 1979; Jeffrey et al. 1973, 1974; Parker et al. 1979). Jeffrey (1979) determined that
the average floating tar concentration in the GOM was 1.35 mgm2, based on 220
neuston tows between 1972 and 1976. No apparent change in tarball concentrations was
observed during this period. The highest tar concentrations were observed in the western
portions of the GUM. Koons and Monaghan (1973) estimated the standing crop of
tarballs in the GUM to be about 2,000 metric tons (using a concentration of 1.0 mgm2).
There is also one report of extensive benthic tars recovered in bottom trawls across the
deepwater regions of the northern GUM (Alcazar et al. 1989).
The principal sources of tarballs in the GOM are natural seepage, tanker transportation
activities, and oil spills (e.g., IXTOC blowout). Jeffrey (1979) found that approximately
30% of the tarballs analyzed were tanker sludge residues, about 2% were identified as
fuel oil residues, and 65% were crude oils from many origins, only 20% of the floating
tar had sulfur content greater than 3% and these were found primarily in the western and
southwestern Gulf. Based on the sulfur content of pelagic tars, Jeffrey et al. (1974)
estimated that possibly as much as 60% of the tars originated from foreign crude oils
spilled during tanker operations.
Particulate Inorganic Matter

Particulate inorganic carbon can be derived from either the inorganic remains of
organisms (carbonate or silicate tests) or from riverine transport of landderived
materials. As mentioned above, resuspension of bottom sediments can also contribute to
water colunrn particulates. There are few studies of the distribution of inorganic
particulate matter in the study area. However, it is suspected that the amount of
particulate matter decreases with increasing water depth and that the majority of the
particulate matter is derived from the remains of biological organisms in the open water
GUM.
One portion of the particulate inorganic matter is particulate metals. As for the dissolved
metals, particulate metals will have their origins in terrestrial materials transported by
rivers and the air as well as a range of potential anthropogenic sources. As mentioned
above, more than 90% of the metals detected in the water column are in the particulate
form (Presley et al. 1980). While little is known about particulate trace metal levels in
the study area itself, the metal content in Mississippi River suspended material was
similar to the original rocks in Fe, Al, V. Cr, Cu, Co, Mn, and Ni content but was
132
enriched in Zn, Cd, and Pb content. Enrichments in lead and cadmium were believed to
be the result of anthropogenic influences.
Another source of particulate metals to the open GUM is discharges during oil and gas
exploration and production (Boothe 1979; Boothe and Presley 1979, 1987, 1989). Large
amounts of drill muds are discharged that contain a range of trace metals. In the
deepwater GUM, there are few measurements of water colunm particulate metal
concentrations. In one study, increased concentrations of particulate iron were found in
the nepheloid layer above the sea bottom caused by sediment resuspension (Betzer and
Pilson 1971). A study of the distribution of particulate aluminum in the GUM concluded
that the average concentration of Al was 2.0 tgL" (Feely et al. 1971). Aluminosilicate
accounted for 14% of the surface water particulate matter decreasing to 8% in the middle
of the euphotic zone and then increasing to 30% at depths down to 1,000 m. The authors
concluded that the total suspended matter was 50% organic, 20% aluminosilicate, and
30% other inorganic material.
The Chemistry of Natural Seepage

Several features of the benthic environment are important influences on the fluxes of
chemicals in the northern Gulf of Mexico deep-sea. A review of sediment characteristics
is provided elsewhere. As previously mentioned, one of the unique features of the
deepwater northern Gulf of Mexico is the extensive oil and gas seepage documented in
the last 15 years. These seeps have important effects on the benthos and serve as a
unique source of chemicals to the GUM basin. The area is underlain by a thick layer of
salt that has produced a complex topography due to salt movement. This has also set the
stage for migration of deeply generated thermogenic hydrocarbons to the near-surface
sediments and into the overlying water column by producing conduits for fluid flow. The
most recognized impact of this unique geological setting are the "cold seep"
chemo synthetic communities of mussels and tubeworms (Brooks et al. 1987; MacDonald
1992; MacDonald et al. 1996; see also Chapter 8 of this report). This dynamic setting
also affects the chemistry of the basin as these same processes introduce salt (brine
seepage) and hydrocarbons (gases, liquids and solids) to deepwater regions. At some
seep locations, gas hydrate is known to outcrop on the seafloor, disrupting adjacent
sediments. Barite chimneys identified in some areas can be a natural source of barium in
sediments (as contrasted with an anthropogenic origin in drilling muds). These processes
are important to consider in any description of biogeochemical cycles in the deepwater
northern GUM. It is also clear that the background of hydrocarbons in these areas can be
quite high and these natural inputs need to be considered when attempting to recognize
anthropogenic disturbances in the area.
Brine Seepage
While first discovered on the shallow continental shelf, it is now known that hypersaline
brines often breach the seafloor in the deep sea northern Gulf of Mexico (Shokes et al.
1977; Brooks et al. 1979; Roberts and Carney 1994; Roberts and Carney 1997). If the
133
topographic setting is right, brine pools have been known to develop. Elevated salinities
in pore waters are common at hydrocarbon seep sites and often brine seeps are associated
with temperature anomalies (Nagihara 1992; Kaluza et al. 1996). These brines can be
brackish to saturated solutions. In addition to the brine poois discovered along the
mid-slope in water depths from 500 to 800 m (NR-1 Brine Pool), a large brine containing
basin was identified in the 1970's called the Orca Basin (Sackett et al. 1979; Addy and
Bebrens 1980; Ishizaka et al. 1986; Aharon et al. 1992; Aharon et al. 1997; Van
Cappellen et al. 1998). The Orca basin is a 400 kin2 basin at a water depth of 2,400 in in
the central northern Gulf of Mexico. Salinities as high as 238 ppt have been measured.
Hydrocarbon Seepage
Large areas of the northern Gulf of Mexico continental slope are known to contain seeps
of gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons (Brooks et al. 1984, 1985, 1986a,b, 1987; Kennicutt
et al. 1987, 1988). Sediments in the deep-sea regions of the northern Gulf of Mexico
contain a mixture of terrigenous, petroleum, and phytoplariktonic hydrocarbons
(Kennicutt et al. 1987). The relative importance of these inputs varies in space and time
(LGL Ecological Research Associates, Inc. and Texas A&M University 1985, 1986;
Kennicuft et al. 1987; Gallaway 1988). Background sediment hydrocarbon
concentrations in the deepwater GUM are generally lower than those reported for GOM
shelf and coastal sediments. The influence of land-derived materials decreases from the
central to the western to the eastern deepwater GOM. Petroleum inputs are detectable at
many locations. Natural seepage of hydrocarbons is an important source of petroleum
hydrocarbons to slope sediments in localized areas. Background hydrocarbon
concentrations can vary by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude along an isobath due to changes in
sediment texture and hydrocarbon inputs. Variability along an isobath can be as great as
that observed across isobaths from 300 to 3,000 m of water depth. In seep areas,
hydrocarbon levels in near-surface sediments can reach concentrations of several percent
by weight. Background hydrocarbon concentrations in deepwater GOM sediments are on
the order of 50 to 100 ppm by weight. The movement of hydrocarbons from deep seated
reservoirs to the shallow sediments, and into the water column followed by slick and
tarball formation, has been documented in the open water GUM (Kennicutt et al. 1988).
Visual observations from submersibles have confirmed active and on-going gas and
liquid seepage at many locations on the central GUM continental slope. Near-surface
hydrocarbons are often extensively altered due to microbial degradation. Seep locations
are characterized by the presence of extensive microbial mats and extensive hard bottoms
formed from authigenic carbonate precipitation incorporating CO2 derived from the
oxidation of hydrocarbons.
Analysis of organisms from areas of natural seepage has shown that animal tissues
collected close to seeps contain significant amounts of hydrocarbons (Wade et al. 1989).
Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations were higher in sedentary
organism than in the more mobile species. Tissue PAH concentrations demonstrated that
these populations are chronically exposed to hydrocarbons of a natural origin.
134
Conclusions
In general, the chemistry of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico is not well studied. In many
ways, the deep Gulf is buffered from the direct iniluence of coastal waters and processes.
This is reflected in the low levels of anthropogenic contaminants present in the dissolved
and particulate phases of the water colunm. However, oceanographic mechanisms can
transport low-salinity, nutrient-rich waters across the shelf and into the deepwater
enviromTlent. This has been shown to occur off the Mississippi River mouth, for
example, when a seaward-moving surface flow confluence is created by deepwater
cyclone-anticyclone circulation pairs (Chapter 6). Riverine input of dissolved and
particulate materials is important to the chemistry of the deepwater basin. Secondary
movement of materials downslope is an important process as well. The sparse
information on sediments in the area suggests that the benthic environment is mostly
unaffected by anthropogenic impacts. One important feature of the study area is the
widespread occurrence of natural seepage of oil, gas, and brines in near-surface
sediments and up through the water column. This unusual "natural background" of
hydrocarbons and other disturbances is important to consider when attempting to detect
impacts related to oil and gas exploration and production activities in the area.
Literature Cited
Addy, S.K. and E.W. Behrens. 1980. Time of accumulation of hypersaline anoxic brine in Orca
Basin (Gulf of Mexico). Marine Geology 37(3-4):241-252.
Aharon, P., H.H. Roberts, and R. Snelling. 1992. Submarine venting of brines in the deep Gulf
of Mexico: Observations and geochemistry. Geology 20(6) :483-486.
Aharon, P., H.P. Schwarcz, and RH. Roberts. 1997. Radiometric dating of submarine
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Chapter 6: Water Column Biology
Douglas C. Biggs and Patrick H Ressler
Primary Productivity and Chlorophyll Standing Stocks 141

Introduction 141
Mean Condition 142
Seasonal Changes 145
Deepwater "Hot Spots" from Entrainment of Freshwater 145
Deepwater "Hot Spots" from Cross Isopycnal Mixing 146
Deepwater "Hot Spots" from Mesoscale Divergence 153
Deepwater Zooplankton, Micronekton, and Ichthyoplankton 154
Introduction 154
The Available Database 155
Previous Reviews 155
Ecology, Biology, and Systematics Studies 159
Biornass and Abundance 160
Spatial and Temporal Variability 164
Acoustic Sampling of Zooplankton and Micronekton Biomass 166
Optical Sampling of Zooplankton and Micronekton Biomass 167
A Combined Approach to Biomass Surveys 167
Appendix 6A: Deepwater Water Column Biology 181
Primary Productivity and Chlorophyll Standing Stocks

Introduction
Phytoplankton distribution and abundance in Gulf of Mexico waters has been reviewed at
decadal intervals over the last 30 years, first by Bj ornb erg (1971), then by Iverson (in
Iverson and Hopkins 1981), and most recently by Vargo (in Vargo and Hopkins 1990).
However, most of the reports these reviewers featured focused primarily on the
continental shelf and Vargo, in particular, noted that much of the information for his
review came from studies conducted 10 to 20 years before 1990. In fact, data collected
by expeditions in the 1960's and 1970's remain the basis for the general paradigm that
standing stocks and productivity of piankton are both quite low seaward of the
shelf-slope break in the Gulf of Mexico. The present review will support that description
of the mean state but will also show that research carried out since 1987 indicates "hot
spots" in primary production occur whenlwhere nutrient availability is locally enhanced,
even in deepwater (water depths greater than 300 m). Fundamental
nutrients-phytoplarikton-zooplankton (NPZ) food chain theory forecasts that enhanced
primary production, if sustained, will lead to increased animal (zooplankton and
micronekton) production. In this review we will summarize the available evidence from
the Gulf of Mexico that deepwater "hot spots" that are temporally persistent (even if they
are spatially variable) have higher stocks of zooplankton and micronekton.
141
Biggs and Ross/er: Water Column Biology
Mean Condition
The Gulf of Mexico (GUM) is a subtropical ocean basin located within the circulation
regime generally called the Intra-Americas Sea. The near-surface circulation pattern of
the eastern GOM is dominated by the anticyclonic flow of the Loop Current (LC). East
of 90°W, upper layer flow enters through the Yucatan Channel and leaves through the
Florida Straits. Since this current enters from the Caribbean, it acts as a biological
conveyor belt to maintain the exchange of pelagic species between the Caribbean and the
GUM. This conveyor does not fertilize downstream plant plankton, however, since LC
surface waters are among the most oligotrophic in the world ocean. Nitrate, phosphate,
arid other essential plant nutrients are usually below the analytical detection limit
(<0.05 htML') in LC inflow water from the surface to depths of 80-90 m. The extinction
coefficient, "k", that describes how rapidly irradiance decreases with depth according to
the exponential equation I = * e, is usually <0.05 in LC surface water. As a
consequence, the LC inflow into the GUM is almost swimming pooi clear and therefore
is deep blue in color.
In the central and western deepwater GOM as well, the standing stocks and biological
productivity of the plant and animal communities living in the upper part of the water
column are in general those that might be expected in a nutrient-limited ecosystem. In
the late 1960's, as part of a review of plankton productivity of the world ocean, Soviet
scientists characterized the deepwater GOM as very low in standing plankton biomass
(Bogdanov et al. 1968), with mean primary productivity ofjust 100 to 150 mg Cm2d1
(Koblenz-Mishke et al. 1970). A few years later, extensive surveys of phytoplankton
chlorophyll and primary production that span the period 1964 to 1971 were summarized
by El-Sayed (1972) in atlas format, as averages within 2° squares of latitude and
longitude. These atlas maps show that surface chlorophyll generally ranges from 0.06 to
0.32 mgm3 in deepwater central and western GUM. Subsurface there is usually a "deep
chlorophyll maximum" (DCM) within which concentrations are two- to three-fold higher,
and so the atlas reported that chlorophyll in deepwater could reach 21 mgm2 when
integrated from the surface to the base of the photic zone. Most values, though, ranged
from 5 to 17 mg1n2 when averaged in squares where water depth >2,000 m (El-Sayed
1972). Low values of primary production (<0.25 mg Cm3h1) are typical for surface
waters at the majority of the oceanic stations in this atlas, equivalent to <10 mg Cm2h1
when integrated from the surface to the base of the photic zone. If there are on average
12 hours of sunlight per day, this rate is equivalent to <120 mg Cm2d1 and so is in good
agreement with the characterization by Koblenz-Mishke et al. (1970). Allowing for
primary production to proceed 300 days a year in the GUM because of its subtropical
climate, this rate of primaiy productivity is <36 g Cm2-y'. As a consequence the
deepwater GUM is usually placed at the low end of the estimated range of 50 to 160 g
C-m2-y that is generally accepted for the annual gross primary production in open-ocean
ecosystems (Smith and Hollibaugh 1993).
Size fractionation of chlorophyll and primary production was done on subsequent cruises
to deepwater. Early data were summarized by El-Sayed and Turner (1977). They noted
that the <20 im size fraction accounted for on average 83% of the standing crop and 83%
of the total production. These values emphasize the importance of the nano-plankton size
142
Biggs and Ressler: Water Column Biology
fraction in the phytoplankton community and further reinforce the paradigm that low
nutrient surface waters are characteristically dominated by small-size phytoplankton and
by blue-green algae like Trichodesmium. Vargo and Hopkins (1990) emphasized the
importance of this blue-green alga in the deepwater GOM, for when abundant in the top
20 m of the water column, Trichodesmium may have photosynthetic rates of tens of mg
Cm2d' (Carpenter 1983). After the potential importance of phytoplankton even smaller
in size than nanoplankton became widely recognized, subsequent researchers working in
the GUM and elsewhere have size fractionated chlorophyll and primary production into
pico (<2 tm), as well as nano (2 to 20 tm), and net (>20 m) fractions (Al-Abdulkader
1996; Gonzalez-Rodas 1999).
When it became known that even low concentrations of trace metals that may
inadvertently be introduced into sampling bottles or into light-dark incubation bottles can
greatly depress measured rates of gross primary production, biogeochemists advocated
the use of trace-metal clean techniques to remeasure primary production in oceanic
ecosystems (Fitzwater et al. 1982). After about 1980, such "clean techniques" were used
routinely to remeasure primary production in the GUM and elsewhere. In their review,
Vargo and Hopkins (1990) noted three such studies. Ferguson and Sunda (1984) reported
rates of 0.11 mg Cn13h1 for a LC station. Ortner et al. (1984) measured similar values
in the LC and calculated that integrated production rates (0 to 90 m) ranged from 14 mg
Cm2h1 (temperature-stratified conditions) to 62 mg Cm2-h' (after wind-mixing to 110
to 120 ni). Yoder and Mahood (1983), who measured primary production from the shelf
out into deepwater during the Southwest Florida Shelf Ecosystems Study, found that
production averaged 0.1 g C-m2-d1 in deepwater outside an eddy-induced upwelling area.
On average, then, it appeared that remeasurements using clean techniques in the 1980's
yielded results that were comparable to those that were obtained during the more
extensive surveys of the 1970's.
J'ignre 6.1 shows the location of primary production measurements using clean
techniques that have been made in deepwater after the Vargo and Hopkins (1990) review,
by Texas A&M University and by the Universidad Nacional Autonomia de Mexico
(UNAM) during the period 1987-1997. The primary productivity data from UNAM
stations made in summer 1997 have not yet been published although a summary is
available from Dr. Elva Escobar-Briones (escobri@mar.icmyl.unam.mx). The
1987-1988 measurements were discussed by Biggs (1992), and the 1990 deepwater
measurements made in support of the Nutrient Enriched Coastal Ocean Productivity
(NECOP) program were reported by Biggs and Sanchez (1997). Three dozen deepwater
measurements made from 1992-1994 in support of the Texas-Louisiana Shelf Circulation
and Transport Processes Study (LATEX) have recently been reported by Al-Abdulkader
(1996) and Gonzalez-Rodas (1999).
During LATEX, size fractionation of chlorophyll and primary production was done along
cross-margin transects that extended from shallow water to the shelf edge, and also at
sampling sites along and seaward of the 200-in isobath of the western and central GUM.
Ten LATEX cniises fielded from 1992 to 1994 sampled the continental margin in May
(1992, 1993, 1994), August (1992, 1993, 1994), November (1992, 1993, 1994), and
143
TAMLJ T&R cruises 1987 & 1988
O NECOP 1990
LATEX 1992&1993
LATEX 1993& 1994
* UNAM Justo Sierra cruise 1997
Figure 6.1. Deepwater locations of recent measurements of primary production, 1987-1997, on oceanographic cruises by Texas A&M University
(TAM U) and the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM).
February (1993 only). Nowlin et al. (1998) summarized the circulation and transport
processes; phytoplankton pigment concentrations and species counts were reported by
Neuhard (1994) and Bontempi (1995), and also by Al-Abdulkader (1996) and
Gonzalez-Rodas (1999). In general, the LATEX results support the findings of El-Sayed
and Turner (1977) in that on most cruises, pico+nano plankton averaged more than 3/4 of
deepwater cell counts and accounted for >2/3 of the primary production. The exception
was the "winter" cruise in February, when diatoms of the genera Leptocylindrus and
Chaetoceros comprised >50% of phytoplankton numbers not just in deepwater but across
the outer, middle, and inner shelf as well.
Seasonal Changes
Even in a subtropical ocean there are seasonal changes. Pigment concentration at the
surface in the deepwater GUM undergoes a well-defined seasonal cycle that is generally
synchronous throughout the region. Muller-Karger et al. (1991) reviewed monthly
climatologies of near-surface phytoplarikton pigment concentration from multiyear series
of coastal zone color scanner (CZCS) images for the period 1978-1985. They reported
that highest surface concentrations of chlorophyll occur between December and February
and lowest values occur between May and July. There is only about three-fold variation
between the lowest (0.06 mgrn3) and highest (0.2 mgnf3) deepwater surface pigment
concentrations, however. Model simulations show that the single most important factor
controlling the seasonal cycle in surface pigment concentration is the depth of the mixed
layer (Walsh et al. 1989). Muller-Karger et al. (1991) concluded because of this
dependence, annual cycles of algal biomass are one or more months out of phase relative
to the seasonal cycle of sea surface temperature.
Deepwater "Hot Spots" from Entrainment of Freshwater
Since essential plant nutrients are limiting, any process that increases the nutrient
concentrations available to phytoplankton in the deepwater GUM will increase their
primary productivity. It is well known that freshwater inputs carry high nutrient loads,
but in the GOM these high nutrient inputs are usually measurable only close-in to rivers
and estuaries (Lohrenz et al. 1990, 1994). An exception occurs, however, when surface
currents set up off-shelf flow that carries the river water seaward past the shelf-slope
break and into deepwater. Biggs and Muller-Karger (1994) combined CZCS data with
ship data to document that high-chlorophyll "plumes" do form in the western GUM when
a seaward-moving surface flow confluence is created by deepwater cyclone-anticyclone
circulation pairs. Analogous to a pair of anticlockwise-rotating and clockwise rotating
gears, these circulations entrain coastal water from the western and central GUM and
draw this offshore when the cyclone (anticlockwise circulation) lies immediately to the
north or east of the anticyclone (clockwise circulation).
Both types of these mesoscale features can be detected by the topography of the 15°C
isotherm; this is domed upward in the cyclones and pushed locally deep within the
anticyclones. Both types of features can now be located with satellite altimetry, as well,
since GUM cold-core eddies (15°C isotherm domed) show up as 10 to 20cm local
depressions in sea surface height, whereas warm-core eddies (15°C isotherm pushed
145
locally deep) show up as 20 to 70 cm local elevations in sea surface height (Leben et al.
1993). As one recent example, Figure 6.2 shows dynamic topography, gridded upper
layer geostrophic velocity, and surface salinity and surface chlorophyll concentrations
over deepwater of the northeast GOM in mid-summer 1997. Low salinity Mississippi
River water was entrained into the flow confluence created by a gradient of >80 dyn cm
in geopotential anomaly between a cyclone located to the north-northeast of a Loop
Current eddy (LCIE). Note that low salinity patches of river water were wrapped
anti-clockwise around the periphery of the cyclone. A comparison of the salinity and
chlorophyll fields shows that surface chlorophyll concentrations in this river water
reached 2.0 rng-m3, and that especially in the concentration range 0.1 to 0.4 mg-m3, the
patches of highest surface chlorophyll correspond spatially to the patches of lowest
surface salinity.
As a second example, Figure 6.3 shows sea surface height anomaly, surface salinity, and
surface chlorophyll over the same region the next summer, in August 1998. This time,
there is not a well-developed cyclone-anticyclone modon pair. Rather, it is the clockwise
circulation around the periphery of a small anticyclone that was located close off the
Mississippi River delta that has entrained river waters eastward along its edge. In the
periphery of the anticyclone, patches of low salinity, high chlorophyll waters got
transported from the inner shelf eastward across the continental margin to deepwater
depths >500 m. For example, note that the irregular-shaped patch of high chlorophyll
(>1 mgm3) seaward of the 200-rn isobath between 86° and 88°W corresponds, spatially,
to a freshwater patch in the core of which surface salinity is <28.
Deepwater "Hot Spots" from Cross Isopycnal Mixing

Recent fieldwork has shown these mesoscale oceanographic features have additional
impacts upon deepwater plankton and micronekton communities, for locally high
nutrients are also introduced to the surface of deepwater ocean regions at eddy edges
where there is enhanced vertical mixing. In fact, the periphery regions of high velocity
surface currents that surround both the cyclonic and the anticyclonic eddies are zones of
locally high vertical shear. Lee et al. (1991) have shown that meanders and eddies in the
Gulf Stream are often marked by local aggregations of phytoplankton, and elevated fish
stocks appear to concentrate in such areas (Atkinson and Targett 1983). The presence of
multiple cyclonic and anticyclonic features in the Gulf of Mexico can result in strong
frontal gradients between these features.
In the CZCS ocean color climatology from 1978-1985 and in imagery from the current
generation ocean color sensor (the Sea Wide-Field Scaruier, or SeaWiFS, in orbit since
October 1997), the periphery of the LC and of the anticyclonic LCEs of diameter 200 to
300 km that are shed from the LC are often seen to be outlined by surface pigment
concentrations that are two- to three-fold higher than the extremely low concentrations
(0.04 to 0.06 mgm3) in the interior of these circulations. Figure 6.4, which illustrates a
'halo" of locally high chlorophyll standing stock around the LC in mid-January 1998, is
one such example. Two other examples from recent fieldwork are presented as
Figures 6.5 and 6.6.
146
Biggs and Ross/er: Water Column Biology
Longitude LOnuitude
Longitude Longitude
25.5 27.0 28.5 30.8 31.5 330 345 360 37.5

inr
0.00 040 0.80 1.20 1.60 250
Figure 6.2. A: Dynamic topography (cm, 0 m relative to 800 m) of the deepwater GulfCet II focal area,
as determined from 107 hydrographic stations made on RN Gyre cruise 97008. B: Gridded
upper layer geostrophic velocity (0 m relative to 800 m) computed from the dynamic
topography data in A. C: Sea surface salinity map, superimposed on ship track lines of
97G08. D: Sea surface chlorophyll map, superimposed on ship track lines. All four figures
are from Chapter 2 of the GulfCet II Final Report (Davis et at. 2000a).
147
27N
\)
90°W 89°W 88W 87W 86W 85Vv 84W 83W 82W
31 N
30N
29N
28°N
I
27°N ' I
I I
90W 89W 88W 87W 86°W 85 W 84W 83W 82W

31 N
30°N
29N
28N
2TN ' I
I I I
90 W 89W 88W 8TW 86W 85 W 84°W 83W 82W

Figure 6.3. Top panel: Sea surface height anomaly for water depths > 200 m from satellite
altimeter data for the NEGOM study area for 29 July 1998 (hindcast data).
Middle panel: Salinity at 3 m from thermosalinograph observations on NEGOM
cruise N3, 26 July - 6 August 1998. Bottom panel: Chlorophyll (tgm3) at 3 m
calculated from flow-through fluorescence on NEGOM cruise N3. All panels are
from the NEGOM Annual Report, Year 2 (Jochens and Nowlin 1999). Shading
indicates patches of low salinity, high chlorophyll river water being entrained
anticyclonically around the eddy centered in deepwater of De Soto Canyon.
148
I
Figure 6.4. SeaWiFS ocean color image for 16 January 1998, processed by the Department of Marine nce, University of South Florida. Note I.
the 'halo' of locally high pigment concentration (light blue color) along the western and NW periphery of the Loop Current. In this
image, the Loop Current (medium blue color) extends north of 27°N between 88.5°W and 85.5°W. Land and clouds are masked in
black. Data courtesy of Orbimage and NASA.
TEXAS LOUISIANA S -
11091109 0111101 -
-
Y(
-
'-: _' '
2
-
2/
'6 )L8
'
-94 -93 -92 -91 -90 49
1'
199 201 203 205 352 305 125 111 91 86 1 79 35 V 36 34 29
96 200 292 188 206 207 209 230 232 17 85 213 323 321 41 37 35 33
50
\ -1-. \ / -
2-
LW T'Ii
--
_/'
-- J 1I4 (___-
\ /
150 -.
I
'f/ I
:
---S
v,;'
/// \
\35
-
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-
(300 - 3552
"23 --1 -
_I \'----- 132.
2A \. 1 1.
200 ..1L-4'"J .,.
0 50 100 350 200 250 300 350 400 450 SUO 550
)tI3ce .&IMI9 9lliO3 2ock (kb)
Figure 6.5. Top panel: Cruise track and station locations for LATEX hydrographic survey H05, AprilMay
1993. Bottom panel: Vertical contours of bottle nitrate (.imoFL1) along 2OOm isobath during
cruise H05. Dots indicate sample locations. Both panels are from the LATEX data report
(Jochens et al. 1996).
150
,ow 95GW
hte9raed producUwlty, May 1 993 integrated producvfty, Aug. 1 993 ntegrated poductMzy tJov. 1993
nterated poductMty May I 994 integrated produUvity, AUU. 1 94

kiteated productivity, Nov. 1994
Figure 8.6. Primary productivity (g Cm-2d-1) of the LATEX continental margin in May, August, and November of 1993 and 1994 (From:
Gonzalez-Rodas 1999). Asterisk symbols show location of primary productivity stations.
Biggs and Ress/er: Water Column Biology
Figure 6.5 shows a hot spot of anomalously high nitrate concentration in surface waters
between 91° and 92°W along the 200 m isobath that was encountered in May 1993. At
stations 36, 37,and 38 on LATEX hydrographic survey H05, nitrate concentrations
>0.5 M-L1 occurred at the surface, just south of a strong surface front where salinity
increased from 32.0 to 36.3. This hot spot of nitrate apparently arose from strong vertical
shear that developed in this frontal zone, for the surface salinity and silicate data and the
vertical contours shown in Figure 6.5 strongly suggest that it was fueled by
cross-isopycnal mixing from below rather than fTom entrainment of freshwater from the
Atchafalaya Bay or Mississippi River to the north and east. Farther west along the 200 m
isobath, an anticyclone (LCE "V") was interacting with the continental margin. Note as
well from Figure 6.5 that the extremely low nutrient interior of the eddy was apparently
drawn onshore between stations 207 to 210.
Al-Abdulkader (1996) measured chlorophyll stocks and primary productivity at

station 37 within the hot spot of anomalously high surface nitrate, and at station 83 some
140 km to the west along the 200 m isobath, and also further west at station 88 at the
deepwater end of LATEX line 4 which reached the NE periphery of LCE "V". Data
from his table 21 show that near-surface chlorophyll at station 37 ranged from 0.4 to
0.5 mgm3, or three-fold higher than the concentrations of 0.15 to 0.17 mgm3 at
station 83 west of the hot spot. Al-Abdulkader's data show that primary productivity in
the upper 50 m of the hot spot ranged from 0.2 to 0.3 mg Cm3h'; integrated to the 0.2%
L depth and knowing that photosynthesis proceeds 12 h per day in May, this is a
production of 220 mg Cm2d1. This is 1.4 times higher than the measured production
integrated to the same irradiance level at his station 83 (158 mg Cm2-d'). At station 88
in the NE periphery of LCE "V", locally low salinity surface water was present (33.6 to
33.8 in the upper 10 m). This surface water was low in nitrate and near-surface
chlorophyll concentrations in it were similar to those at station 83, but high silicate levels
in the upper 10 m at station 88 indicate this low salinity cap was probably entrained
Mississippi River outflow. Data from Al-Abdulkader's table 20 show that primary
productivity in the low salinity surface water was locally high (0.3 to 0.4 mgm3) and that
even below this low salinity layer productivity averaged 0.16 mgm3 to a depth of 100 m.
When integrated to the 0.2% I depth, this is a production of 226 mg Cm2-d', equivalent
to that in the nitrate "hot spot."
A recent dissertation by Gonzalez-Rodas (1999) summarized primary productivity

measurements that were continued and extended on subsequent LATEX cruises.
Figure 6.6 shows Gonzalez-Rodas' summary of integrated primary productivity for the
LATEX continental margin in May, August, and November of 1993 and 1994. Note that
hot spots in deepwater primary production (>2.5 g C-i2d') were present near 27.5°N
and 92°W in August 1993 and also in November 1994. In summer 1993, the northern
edge of LCE-W was interacting with the continental margin between 91° and 93°W; the
locally high shear there apparently fueled a region of anomalously high deepwater
primary production. This eddy had a diameter of some 250 km and at the location where
the productivity was measured, the geopotential anomaly was about +20 cm and current
speeds were about 60 cms1 (see Table 5 in Gonzalez-Rodas 1999). In fall 1994, the
northern edge of another anticyclone, LCE-Y, was interacting with the continental
152
Biggs and Re.ssler: Water Column Biology
margin again between 910 and 92°W. This eddy was even larger in diameter (320 km)
and presented a geopotential anomaly of +36 cm (from Table 5 in Gonzalez-Rodas 1999).
Deepwater "Hot Spots" from Mesoscale Divergence
Because the interiors of the anticyclones are areas of convergence, the upper 100 m or so
of the water column in both LC and LCEs are areas in which surface waters are
infrequently renewed and so they are impoverished in nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients.
The interiors of these regions of convergence are generally regarded as biological "ocean
deserts." Measurements of chlorophyll standing stocks, primary productivity, and
zooplankton standing stocks within an LCE sampled in 1988 are in good agreement with
this premise (Biggs 1992). However, the cyclonic coldcore eddies (local areas of
divergence) that are frequently associated with these ariticyclones represent areas of
higher biological productivity.
Subsurface sampling of these GOM eddies from ships showed there was a highly
predictable negative first order relationship between temperature <22°C and nitrate
concentration. Temperature could thus be used as a proxy for nitrate concentration, and
in particular the depth of the 19°C isotherm was a good estimation of the depth of the
10 htML' nitrate concentration (Biggs et al. 1988). Within one cyclone sampled in
1996, the nitracline was domed 40 to 60 m shallower than within the LCE that was
sampled concurrently (see Figure 6 in Zimmerman and Biggs 1999). Because this
doming facilitated a higher flux of new nitrogen into surface waters in cyclone than in
anticyclone, the DCM was locally shallower and chlorophyll reached higher maximum
concentration in the cyclone than in the LCE. Because this resulted in higher standing
stocks of chlorophyll in the upper 100 m in the cyclone, the cyclones are generally
regarded as biological "oases" while the interior of the LCEs are biological "deserts."
At six conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) stations made during a survey of a
mesoscale cyclonic eddy that was centered near 26°N and 94°W in November 1987,
integrated chlorophyll standing stock averaged 38 ± 9 mgm2 (Biggs et al. 1988), or two
to three times greater than the mean for the oceanic GUM. Primary productivity
averaged 12 mg C-m3d' in the upper 10 m and integrated production to the 1% light
level was equal to 250 mg Cm2-d1 (Biggs 1992), or double the mean of 100 to 150 mg
Cni2d' reported by Koblenz-Mishke et al. (1970). Similarly, Yoder and Mahood
(1983) reported that for stations located seaward of the 200-rn isobath off the West
Florida shelf within an area of eddy-induced upwelling, the top of the nitracline domed to
depths of just 40 to 60 m below the surface. They measured the average water column
production there at 0.6 g Cm2-d', whereas for three other stations located outside the
eddy-induced upwelling area, production averaged 0.1 g Cm2d1 (Yoder and Mahood
1983). Thus, Yoder and Mahood concluded that subsurface upwelling may enhance
deepwater phytoplaiikton primary production by as much as six-fold. Subsequent studies
of cyclonic gyre formation off the Southwest Florida shelf found that a cold recirculation,
approximately 200 km in size, develops off the Dry Tortugas when the LC flow
overshoots the entry to the Florida Straits and that this persists over time scales of about
100 days (Lee et al. 1994). The "Tortugas Gyre" formation provides enhanced food
153
supply, retention, and shoreward transports for successftil recruitment of locally spawned
snapper and grouper larvae in the western and lower Florida Keys.
In sun-u-nary, when/where anticyclonic and cyclonic hydrographic features occur over

deepwater in the GUM, it is expected they will play an important role in determining
biogeographic patterns and controlling primary productivity in the Gulf of Mexico.
Deepwater Zooplankton, Micronekton, and Ichthyoplankton

Introduction
Historically, the Gulf of Mexico has been considered an oligotrophic, biologically
impoverished ocean since on average the deepwater standing stocks of plankton there are
lower than those found in temperate and higher latitude regions. Soviet-Cuban fisheries
investigations in the 1960's reported that zooplankton standing stocks were low across
much of the GUM (Bogdanov et al. 1968; Khromov l969a) and subsequent reviewers
have reinforced this perception (Hopkins, writing in Iverson and Hopkins 1981, and in
Vargo and Hopkins 1990). The zooplankton and micronekton fauna of the deepwater
GOM are similar in energy content, taxonomic composition, and food habits to those of
other low-latitude oceans (Stickney and Torres 1989; Hopkins and Gartner 1992;
Hopkins et al. 1994, 1996), and the ichthyoplankton fauna of the GUM have been
grouped along with those of the western tropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea
(Richards 1990). Thus in several biologically important ways the GUM resembles other
oligotrophic subtropical oceans.
Relegating secondary production in the GUM to oligotrophic status is nevertheless an

oversimplification, because the generally low standing stock levels are not uniformly so
but are instead punctuated by spatial and temporal variation greater than that found in
most other oligotrophic oceans. This variability may be manifested as spatial "hot spots"
and temporal peaks in biomass. For example, Khromov (1 969a,b) reported that while
zooplankton standing stocks in the tropical oligotrophic Caribbean Sea were almost
always low and did not exceed 10 mL wet displacement volume (WDV) per 100 m3 in
waters offshore of the shelf/slope break, GUM stocks exhibited more seasonal,
interannual, and spatial variability, with biomass levels as high as 35 mL WDV per
100 ni3 (range <5 to 35). Also, Hopkins and Lancraft (1984), who compared integrated
wet weight biomass of zooplankton and micronekton in three tropical-subtropical
locations (Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific Ocean near Hawaii), found that the
GUM was the highest in terms of zooplankton and intermediate in rank (above the
Caribbean) in terms of micronekton, exceeding the next greatest by a factor of two in
both cases. If gelatinous plankton were included in the micronekton biomass
comparison, GOM then ranked highest of all three locations in both categories. Finally,
although studies of GUM biomass do generally reveal low standing stocks, reported
estimates can vary by a factor of 10 or more from the minima within a given study (Biggs
et aT. 1988; Richards et al. 1993; Wormuth et al. 2000).
Richards and McGowan (1989) note the considerable commercial fisheries resources in
the GUM: this is perhaps the strongest contradiction to the dogma that the GOM has low
secondary production. The northern Gulf supports the largest volume fishery in the
154
Biggs and Ressler Water Column Biology
United States, the Gulf menhaden, Brevoortiapatronus (Dagg et al. 1991). In 1998, 5 of
the top 10 U.S. fishing ports in terms of commercial landings were located in Gulf Coast
States, and the GUM accounted for the highest number of fish caught by recreational
fishers of any U.S. subregion (O'Bannon 1999). The deepwater Gulf of Mexico is also
habitat for substantial populations of marine mammals, sea turtles, and seabirds (Mullin
et al. 1994; Davis et al. 2000a). The presence of sizeable populations of these apex
predators in the deepwater GUM implies a reliable supply of lower trophic level prey
resources (Biggs et al. 1988) and suggests that underlying physical processes allow
"oases" of biological productivity to develop in the mostly oligotrophic deepwater GUM.
In this review, we will show that whenlwhere they occur over deepwater in the GUM,
anticyclonic and cyclonic hydrographic features will play an important role in
determining biogeographic patterns of and controlling secondary productivity. The
fisheries potential of the cyclones and of the frontal zones of both types of eddies is
becoming better understood, now that these have been identified as deepwater
concentrating mechanisms for higher trophic levels and apex predators. Continued study
and assessment of zooplanklon and nekton abundance within these mesoscale circulation
features is warranted, since these organisms ultimately serve as food stocks for higher
trophic levels.
The Available Database
Modern investigations of the overlapping categories of"zooplankton," "micronekton,"

and "ichthyoplankton" of the Gulf of Mexico began in the 1950's. Since then,
knowledge of the composition, standing stock biomass levels, and environmental factors
affecting each has been accumulated. For convenience, information on the deepwater
GUM zooplankton, micronekton, and ichthyoplankton community summarized in this
review is broadly divided into three categories, none of which are mutually exclusive:
previous reviews;
studies of the systematics, biology, or ecology of particular taxonomic groups of
zooplankton, micronekton, and ichthyoplankton; and
studies of the standing stock biomass of zooplankton, micronekton, and
ichthyoplankton over time, depth, and location.
The primary focus of the present review will be upon studies of biomass and abundance
(rather than on studies of specific groups), including an assessment of what is known and
some recommendations for future research.
Previous Reviews
There have been several major reviews of Gulf of Mexico zooplankton, micronekton, and
ichthyop!ankton since the 1950's (Table 6.1). Their focus and content varied, from
catalogues of plankton collections yet to be analyzed to lists of known taxa to
surmnarized results of studies of specific regions. Several of the reviewers note that
significant portions of the research done in the GOM have often not reached the
published literature but instead reside in government or contracting agency technical
reports and documents.
155
Table 6.1. Previous reviews of the zooplankton, micronekton, and iehthyoplankton

of the Gulf of Mexico (GUM).
Year Author Descriptor
1954 Gaitsoff (ed.) An edited volume containing reviews of GOM zooplankton

and micronekton; first maj or synthesis
1970 Pequegnat and Texas A&M University Oceanographic Studies Volume 1;

Chace (eds.) contains reviews of some groups of zooplankton and
micronekton; emphasis is upon benthic/demersal rather than
pelagic taxa
1971 Bjornberg Reviews of Caribbean and GUM regions by Bjornberg

and Rass (zooplankton) and Rass (deep-sea fish), in TJNESCO-FAO
proceedings of a 1968 meeting in Curacao
1973 Hopkins Summary of knowledge of the eastern GUM; contains

and Briggs reviews by Hopkins (zooplankton) and Briggs (nekton)
1981 Iverson and GOM phytoplanktonlzooplankton review in Environmental

Hopkins Research Needs in the Gulf of Mexico (GOMEX)
symposium proceedings
1990 Darnell and GUM environmental overview and history of research, from
Defenbaugh a special session on the ecology of the Gulf of Mexico
published in American Zoologist
1990 Vargo and Hopkins' portion reviewed zooplankton and micronekton +

Hopkins ichthyoplankton. The area of interest was Florida south of
the Keys and the deepwater Gulf to the west of the Florida
coast in MMS's Eastern Planning Area
156
The earliest overview was by Gaitsoff (1954), who assembled a volume of reviews
written by leading government and university specialists about GUM zooplankton and
micronekton under the auspices of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A general review
of the state of knowledge of zooplankton was provided by H.B. Moore, to supplement
specific reviews by other specialists of planktonic foraminifera, enidarians, ctenophores,
salps, chaetognaths, crustaceans, mollusks, and fishes. While some detailed information
was available, the general conclusion was that there was still much to be learned about
the GOM zooplankton!micronekton community. In fact, Moore concluded that on
balance "next to nothing of the zooplankton of the Gulf of Mexico" was known at the
time.
Sixteen years later, Pequegnat and Chace (1970) edited a volume on the biology of the
Gulf of Mexico that contained a historical overview, locations, and discussion of
investigations of water column sampling using midwater trawis and meter nets by Texas
A&M University Department of Oceanography investigators in the 1960's. Although the
emphasis of the volume is upon benthic/demersal rather than pelagic taxa, some chapters
summarized the state of knowledge of particular holoplanktonic groups (penaeid and
caridean shrimp, euphausiids, and heteropods) in the deepwater GUM. Around the same
time, the proceedings of "A Symposium on Investigations and Resources of the
Caribbean Sea and Adjacent Regions" were published, which included two reviews of
interest. Bjornberg (1971) reviewed phytoplankton and zooplankton of the Caribbean
and adjacent regions, including the GUM. The state of the knowledge of various
taxonomic categories of zooplankton and micronekton was given, including protozoa,
medusae, siphonophora, ctenophora, rotifera, polychaeta, nemertinea, mollusca,
copepoda, cladocera, ostracoda, mysidacea, amphipoda, isopoda, euphausiacea,
decapoda, chaetognatha, hemichordata, urochordata, and cephalochordata. Bjornberg
concluded that the copepods and chaetognaths were the most well-studied groups,
remarked that much of the study of GOM zooplankton to date had been concentrated in
coastal waters and the Florida Current, and finally noted the need for large-scale,
coordinated study of the zooplankton in shelf and oceanic waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
In the same volume, Rass (1971) reviewed deep-sea fish fauna (members of the
micronekton community) of what he termed the "American Mediterranean Region."
Rass provided a list of 203 species from the GOM and estimated that deepwater fish
represented about one-third of the total number of fish species in the open Gulf of
Mexico.
In a compendium entitled "A Summary of Knowledge of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico,"

Hopkins (1973) reviewed Gulf of Mexico zooplankton. There had been increasing work
in estuarine and coastal systems, but Hopkins noted there was still little published work
on zooplankton in the oceanic GOM. However, knowledge of eastern GUM physical
oceanography had increased considerably, and its potential biological effects were
pointed out by Hopkins The Loop Current and associated upwelling were cited as the
most important factors affecting plankton production in the oceanic GUM, while in
coastal areas runoff from terrestrial sources and seasonal temperature changes were the
most important. Biornass was known to be low in the oligotrophic open Gulf and thought
to vary seasonally with the movement of the Loop Current. The use of zooplanktonic
157
indicator species as water mass tracers was mentioned in this review, as well as the
ongoing plankton collections that were taking place as part of the EGMEX (Eastern Gulf
of Mexico) program. Hopkins' own quantitative studies of biornass and taxonomic
composition of zooplankton and micronekton in the eastern central Gulf of Mexico were
mentioned as "in progress." Briggs (1973) reviewed midwater fishes of the GUM in the
same volume, but he noted that the ichthyofauna of waters overlying the continental slope
and abyssal plain was still not well known.
In 1981, a review of Gulf of Mexico phytoplankton and zooplankton by Iverson and

Hopkins was included in the proceedings of a 1979 symposium on "Environmental
Research Needs in the Gulf of Mexico." Hopkins'section on zooplankton reviews work
on the shelf, slope, and in the open Gulf subsequent to previous reviews of GUM
zooplankton, micronekton, and ichthyoplankton. Hopkins noted that except for published
work on zooplankton taxonomy, much of the research done remained in "gray literature"
government reports and theses/dissertations. However, Hopkins featured several maj or
research programs that sampled zooplankton in water depths of 200 m or greater in the
review, including:
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC), a program sponsored by the U.S.

Department of Energy. The zooplankton were studied off Mobile Bay (29°N, 88°W)
and off Tampa Bay (27°38'N, 85°34'W). The investigators were able to observe
taxonomic composition and biomass levels as a function of depth and time, although
the sampling strategy did not allow them to completely resolve diurnal or seasonal
trends.
Hopkins' own National Science Foudnation-funded trophodynamic study of

zooplankton and micronekton in the upper 1,000 m at a station in the eastern central
GUM (27°N, 86°W). Diurnal patterns of zooplankton numbers and biomass were
studied with trawling, net tows, and bottle sampling. Vertical migration was
documented for a "significant portion of the zooplankton arid micronekton in the
east-central Gulf." Hopkins estimated that the zooplankton biomass at this reference
station turned over once every 30 to 90 days, supported by the relatively low primary
production in the oligotrophic open GUM. Some inferences were made about trophic
interactions based on the data collected there, and Hopkins includes a list of important
zooplanktonic and micronektonic predators and prey in the system. (Hopkins and
colleagues at the University of South Florida would later publish many papers in peer
reviewed journals detailing the work on GOM zooplankton and micronekton at this
location.)
From the studies cited in Hopkins' review for the 1979 symposium, the temporally and
spatially patchy nature of the zooplarikton and micronekton had become evident.
However, Hopkins emphasized the general lack of basic physiological data for GUM
zooplarikton, and argued such data were urgently needed to better understand the flow of
energy and/or pollutants through the deepwater ecosystem.
158
In 1987, a special session on the ecology of the Gulf of Mexico was held at the annual
meeting of the American Society of Zoologists. In 1990, selected papers from that
session were published in an issue of the journal American Zoologist. Darnell and
Defenbaugh (1990) reviewed the history of environmental research in the GUM, noting
that in the 15 years preceding their review, federal agencies (most notably the
Department of the Interior) had spent more than $75 million in research studies of the
northern GOM. As had previous reviewers of the GUM zooplanktonlmicronekton field
of study, these authors reported that much of the results of GUM research remained
"locked up in the various technical reports submitted to the sponsoring agencies, and only
a small fraction [had] appeared in the professional journal literature." However, although
this review provided a list of early historical investigations of the GUM and of major
interdisciplinary investigations since 1960, the bulk of these studies had been targeted to
the continental shelf and not to deepwater.
In 1990, Vargo and Hopkins provided a review of GUM phytoplankton, zooplankton, and
ichthyoplankton in a report to MMS. The area of interest was South Florida, mostly
south of the Florida Keys but also including the deepwater Gulf to the west of the Florida
coast (in the MMS Eastern Planning Area). Hopkins' portion of the review includes
GUM hydrography and circulation relevant to zooplankton and
rnicronektonlichthyoplanktou populations, as well as tabular data and a discussion
regarding the taxonomic dominarits and seasonal trends in abundance and biornass in
GUM waters deeper than 200 m.
Ecology, Bioiogy, and Systematics Studies
Many studies of the diverse zooplankton, micronekton, and ichthyoplankton of the Gulf
of Mexico have concentrated upon the ecology, biology, or systematics of one particular
species or group of organisms. Appendix 6-A is a chronological list of these, including
author and description of subject. Some of the studies are master's theses or doctoral
dissertations that focus upon a particular group (e.g., a 1971 dissertation about two
species of decapod crustaceans that could be used as a water mass tracer in the eastern
GUM). Uthers are papers that were written about the abundance or distribution of a
species or category of particular importance (e.g., several papers estimating the stock of
larval bluefin tuna during different years in the GUM). However, many are stand-alone
taxonomic technical descriptions of particular species (e.g., 1970's descriptions of
copepods, by Park).
The scope of these individual works may be narrow, but in ensemble they are very
important to an understanding of GUM zoopiankton, micronekton, and ichthyoplankton
communities. Such research provides the means to identify and enumerate specimens
found in collected samples; without knowing 'who' is there, we cannot hope to
understand the GUM as a system. To understand the flow of energy and nutrients
through the deepwater biological system, Hopkins (1982) has argued, knowledge of
taxon-specific trophic interactions is often helpful. Thus, we have included Appendix A
because these works provide the taxon-specific ecological information needed to interpret
studies of biomass and abundance and to allow the identification of species or groups of
particular importance.
159
Bigg.s and Hess/er: Water Column Biology
In brief, the dominant groups of GOM deepwater zooplankton in terms of biomass are
holoplanktonic calanoid copepods, euphausiids, and chaetognaths; meroplanktonic larvae
are "relatively scarce in the oceanic" zooplankton community but become more numerous
closer to shore (Vargo and Hopkins 1990). In terms of feeding, the zooplankton
community includes herbivorous, detritivorous, and omnivorous members (Hopkins
1982). The top three groups of deepwater micronekton in order of biomass are
scyphomedusae, fishes (myctophids and gonostomids), and crustaceans (decapods and
euphausiids) (Hopkins and Lancraft 1984). Zooplanktonic crustaceans comprise the
greater part of the diet of micronektonic midwater fishes (I-Iopkins and Baird 1977;
I-Iopkins et al. 1996) and crustaceans (Hopkins et al. 1994), and gelatinous carnivores are
also known to be important zooplanktonic predators (Biggs et al. 1984; Vargo and
Hopkins 1990). Further, areas of enriched deepwater zooplankton biomass have been
shown to be correlated with increased abundance of squid paralarvae and myctophid
fishes (Wormuth et al. 2000). The major components of the deepwater ichthyoplankton
community are larval myctophids, gonostomids, mackerels, tunas, and flyingfishes (Vargo
and Hopkins 1990). The presence of increased abundance of larval fish in areas of
enriched zooplankton biomass implies that their diets include zooplankton (Govorii et al.
1989; Lamkin 1997a). However, the available information on the feeding habits of
ichthyoplankton is limited, except as the category overlaps with micronekton and
zooplankton.
Biomass and Abundance

The standing stock biornass of zooplankton, micronekton, and ichthyoplankton in the
GUM has been observed to vary in both space and time, but despite numerous studies on
the ecology and systematics of particular taxonomic groups, a much smaller amount of
work has been done to determine the scales of the variability at the coarse-to-mesoscale
level and how these determine the patterns in biomass over time. Most of the work has
been done using traditional net sampling techniques: a survey of bulk biomass values
from the literature reveals up to 1 0-fold and higher variability in standing stock levels
(see Table 6.2).
Figure 6.7 includes two maps showing the locations of maj or collections of plankton
biomass data. Despite fairly extensive sampling coverage in many deepwater parts of the
GUM over the last 30-odd years, there has been no overall summary of the biomass
results. Arnold (1958) offered only a cursory analysis of plankton biornass; the
deepwater points supplied by Houde et al. (1976) were almost incidental to an
ichthyoplarikton study that concentrated on the west Florida shelf and there has been
little published analysis of the extensive set of bulk biomass data collected by the
SEAMAP program. There have however been numerous publications and analyses of the
amount, composition, and variability of the biomass at particular locations in the
deepwater GUM (Conimins and Home 1979; Flock and Hopkins 1981; Hopkins 1982;
Hopkins and Lancraft 1984) and regions (Houde and Chitty 1976; Houde et al. 1976 and
1979; Biggs et al. 1988; Richards et al. 1989; Grimes and Finucane 1991; Biggs 1992;
Richards et al. 1993; Cummings 1984; Gasca et al. 1995; Biggs et al. 1997; Zimmerman
and Biggs 1999).
160
Table 6.2. Estimates of plankton standing stock in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GUM)
(bulk biomass as rnL wet displacement volume per 100 m3)
Year Author Descriptor Biomass

1958 Arnold GUM-wide, upper 10 m, silk mesh in 5.2 - 5.4
metal tube, horizontal tows
1958 Arnold GUM-wide, upper 10 m, all-metal 10.9 - 13.5

sampler, horizontal tows
*1969a Khromov GUM-wide, vertical hauls, upper <5 - 35

100 m, silk Juday meter nets with 38
meshes per inch (0.5 mm aperture),
'inedible forms removed'
1973 Hopkins in review article, mentions biomass 1 - 10
estimates for the eastern central GUM
that were obtained during EGMEX
(eastern Gulf of Mexico)
investigations
1976 Houde eastern GUM from multiple years and 2.20 - 9.86
et al. seasons, upper 200 m, 61 cm diameter
bongo nets with 333 pm mesh,
oblique hauls
1981 Iverson Tampa OTEC site in eastern GUM, 6.17
and Hopkins upper 200 m, 0.75 m open nets with
202 pm mesh, vertical and oblique
hauls; average value reported here
1988 Biggs western GUM, tipper 100 m, open 4 40
et al. meter nets with 333 jnn mesh, oblique
hauls during two months (April and
November) of the same year
1989 Richards northeast GOM, upper 200 m, 61 cm 2.3 - 12.3
et al. diameter bongo nets with 333 m
mesh, oblique hauls, data from
SEAMAP program
161
Table 6.2. Estimates of plai±ton standing stock in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico
(GUM) (bulk biomass as rnL wet displacement volume per 100 m3)
(Continued)
1991 Grimes front between Mississippi plume and 1 - 12

and Finucane ocean water, neuston tows, 947 im
mesh, horizontal tows
1992 Biggs western GUM, upper 200 m, open 70 4-6

cm diameter bongo nets with 333 im
mesh, oblique hauls, range of average
day - night values is reported here
1993 Richards northeast GUM, upper 200 m, 61 cm 1.50 - 33.05

et al. diameter bongo nets with 333 tm
mesh, oblique hauls, data from
SEAMAP program
1997 Biggs western GUM, upper 100 in, open 3.6 - 9.0
et al. meter nets with 333 p.m mesh, oblique
hauls
1997a Larnkin upper 200 m, 61 cm diameter bongo 10 - 13

nets with 333 p.m mesh, oblique hauls,
data from SEAMAP program; range
between averages for the eastern and
western Gulf (respectively) are
reported here
1999 Zimmerman central GUM, various discrete 4,0 - 32.5

and Biggs intervals in the upper 125 m, 1/4 m
mouth area MOCNESS with 333 p.m
mesh nets
2000b Davis et al., northeast GOM during two different <0.1 -33.5
Volume III: years, various discrete intervals in the
Data Appendix upper 400 m, 1 m2 mouth area
MOCNESS with 333 p.m mesh nets
Notes: A comparison of literature biomass values is difficult because of differences in gear, sampling
technique, and measurement methods. The values above are a sampling of those values reported in wet
displacement volume per volume of seawater or similar, with equipment and sampling technique as noted.
Volume units were converted as necessary into mL 100 m3. The implicit assumption is that these bulk
values are useful in describing the general biomass patterns of various sizes and kinds of zooplankton,
micronekton, aild ichthyoplankton in the deepwater GOM. * values in this paper were originally reported
as g/in, but a footnote indicated that they were volume values that had been converted to weights by
assuming a zooplankton 'specific weight' ofl.
162
SEAMAP plankton surveys in deepwater GOM, 1982-1998
-90 -88 -86 -84 -82 -80

Longitude
30
28
26
24-
+ Arnold 1958
22 1-loudcctal.1976
OTEC
+ Biggactal. 1988
20
* Biggs 1992
* Biggsetal. 1997
XZimmerman and Bigga 1999
18-
-98 -96 -94 -92 -90 -88 -86 7N Wormuth et al. in Davia ci aL 1999
Hopkins at a1 Standard Station
Longitude
Figure 61. lop panel: Deepwater locations of SEAMAP plankton surveys, 1982-1998. Bottom panel:
Deepwater locations of plankton collection stations (excluding SEAMAP), 1958-1999.
163
Biggs and Res.sler: Water Column Biology
Spatial and Temporal Variability

The analyses that are available indicate that while overall biornass levels are low, there is
mesoscale spatial variability in biomass across the Gulf. The combined standing stock of
zooplankton, micronekton, and ichthyoplankton generally varies with distance from shore
(shelf areas are generally enriched as opposed to the deepwater areas: Khromov 1 969a;
Iverson and Hopkins 1981), depth in the water column (highest in the upper 200 m and
decreasing with depth: Vargo and Hopkins 1990), and the proximity to riverine input
(emiched areas downstream: Bogdanov et aL 1968; Khromov 1969a). Regions of
upwelling, high current shear, or physical aggregation are "hot spots" that have greater
standing stocks (Wormuth 1982; Vargo and Hopkins 1990; Larnkin 1997a; Wormuth et
al. 2000).
There is also evidence for temporal variability in deepwater stocks, both between years
and within a given year. In general, two- to four-fold increases in zooplankton standing
stock appear to follow closely in time after changes in local forcing factors (Bogdanov et
al. 1968, Khromov 1969a). These forcing factors may range from changes in river
outflow (Dagg et al. 1991) to upwelling due to the passage of deepwater eddies.
Variation in overall plankton biomass may also result from turnover of the deepwater
zoop!ankton standing stock, estimated at 30 to 90 days for zooplankton in the eastern
GOM (Iverson and Hopkins 1981). The biomass in a given depth interval also varies on
the time scale of a day by a factor of two or more because of diel vertical migration.
Although generally a small portion of the total plankton biomass (Richards 1985),
ichthyoplankton distributions are especially variable, for many taxa exhibit pronounced
seasonality and year- toyear variation in abundance. Much of this variation appears tied
to length and time of year of spawning (Houde and Chifty 1976; Ditty et al. 1988; Vargo
and Hopkins 1990).
Details of the OTEC sampling off Mobile and Tampa Bays were reported by various
groups (Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory l980a, b, c; Flock and Hopkins 1981) and
summarized by Commins and Home (1979) as well as by Iverson and Hopkins (1981).
In addition to taxonomic and size frequency data, Commins and Home (1979) reported a
peak in zooplankton abundance in October and a minimum in June 1978 at the Tampa
site, while at the Mobile site abundance was greatest in June and least in August.
Approximately 98% of the zooplankton were found to occur in the upper 200 m of the
water colunm. Die! vertical migration was evident at both sites.
A Very extensive analysis of the zooplankton and micronekton community of the

so-called 'Standard Station' in the Eastern GUM (27°N, 86°W) has been done by T.L.
Hopkins and colleagues. Trends in biomass and abundance over depth and time at this
location were elucidated in addition to the ecological information gathered about groups
of zooplankton and micronekton found there. Biomass results from these studies were
not included in Table 6.2 because they were usually reported in dry-weight units based
on length-weight regressions for particular groups of organisms, rather than in bulk
WDV. However, because spatial variation was not the focus of Hopkins' study, it is
unclear whether conclusions drawn from the data collected at this single location are
generally applicable to the rest of the GUM.
164
Aiggs and Ressler: Water Column Biology
Probably the most complete and systematic sampling of the standing stocks of
zooplankton, micronekton, and ichthyoplankton in the deepwater GUM is being carried
out as part of an ongoing state-federal project administered by the Gulf States Marine
Fisheries Commission. Known as SEAMAP-Qulf of Mexico (Southeast Area
Management and Assessment Program), the primary goal has been to census the
abundance of eggs and ichthyoplankton larvae of commercially important fish stocks.
Figure 6.7A shows the station locations where SEAMAP cruises collected deepwater
plankton, primarily using 333 jim mesh bongo nets and 947 jim mesh neuston tows
according to standard fisheries methods but supplemented with Tucker trawls on more
recent cruises. Samples are collected one to three times per year on a 1/2 x 1/2 degree
grid in different seasons. Although many of the samples collected by SEAMAP have
been from the continental shelf, so far about 2,100 have been tows in water depth
>200 m.
Data reports for the SEAMAP program are produced each year, and aliquots of the
plankton collected (both sorted and unsorted) are available for loan. Even more helpful,
though, are the summaries of sampling locations, biomass values, and the environmental
data collected at each plankton station that are available from the SEAMAP data manager
(for more information on SEAMAP data products, see
http://www.gsmfc.org/searnap.html). So far there has been no summary of the
interannual or decadal variability of these data. However, some published studies have
used SEAMAP collections from particular regions or over certain periods of time.
Grimes and Finucane (1991) attributed increased abundance of larval fish caught in
SEAMAP neuston tows taken in the front between Mississippi River plume and oceanic
waters to enriched primary and secondary production there, as indicated by elevated
chlorophyll a and zooplankton WDV. Richards et al. (1993) reported that both
zooplankton WDV and several taxa of larval fish varied across the LC boundary, being
lower in abundance in LC interior than in the periphery or outside. Recently, Lamkin
(1997a) used 6 years of SEAMAP data 1983-1988, in an investigation of the frontal
zones associated with the northern excursions of the LC. Lamkin found a positive
conelation between the abundance of larval nomeid fish and the location of the northern
edge of the LC. In particular, Cubiceps pauciradiatus has adult spawning grounds and
larval habitats closely related to sharp temperature gradients. Larvae of apex predators
like bluefin and yellowfin tuna seem to be most abundant along LC frontal zones and
within eddy peripheries, where zooplankton biomass and myctophid larvae numbers in
SEAMAP bongo collections were also elevated (Richards et al. 1989). Adult tuna, as
well, can be caught in such frontal zones (Roffer Offshore Fish Finding Service, personal
communication).
Locations of other studies that produced the biomass estimates listed in Table 6.2 are
plotted in Figure 6.7B. Work by Houde and Chilly (1976) and Houde et al. (1976)
included a study of eastern GUM ichthyoplarikton: bulk plankton displacement volumes
were reported, but most of the analyses concentrated upon shelf waters and
ichthyoplankton composition and stock estimates for species of interest, rather than
deepwater biomass. As in most studies, bulk biomass was greater on the shelf than in the
165
deepwater part of the study area. There appeared to be a positive relationship between
bulk displacement volume and egg/larval abundance, although the association was not
always strong. Also notable is the "distinct seasonality" in the data (especially the eggs
and fish larvae, due to seasonal spawning), with highest biomass and numbers of eggs
and larvae during the spring-summer versus fall-winter, but these seasonal fluctuations
were much more apparent on the shelf than in the deepwater part of the study area.
The studies of Biggs et al. (1988) and Biggs (1992) report opportunistic sampling during
cruises to study LC eddies in the deepwater western GUM. The results provide further
evidence that the upper 200 in of LCEs are low in plankton stocks, especially in contrast
to LCE periphery. Using a 1/4 in2 Multiple Opening/Closing Net Environmental Sensing
System, or MOCNESS (for a description of gear see Wiebe et al. 1985), Zimmerman and
Biggs (1999) collected samples in a transit through a cyclone, an LCE, and the LC itself.
This sampling documented higher standing stocks of zooplankton and micronekton in the
cyclone than in the LC or the LCE. Recently, Wormuth et al. (2000) reported on
extensive 1 in2 MOCNESS sampling, which they supplemented with IKMT (Isaacs-Kidd
midwater trawl) collections, as a part of the GulfCet II multidisciplinary study of marine
mammal, sea turtle, and seabird abundance and distribution.. Their trawling carried out in
support of this recently completed research program, which was co-sponsored by the U.S.
Geological Survey and MMS, also documented that cyclones had locally higher standing
stocks of zooplankton and rnicronekton than did LCEs.
Acoustic Sampling of Zooplankton and Micronekton Biomass
Besides traditional net sampling, acoustic methods are also currently recognized as an
important way of studying zooplankton and niicronekton (Greene and Wiebe 1990;
Wiebe et al. 1997; Greene et al. 1998). Under typical open ocean conditions and using
frequencies on the order of 102 kllz, the particles responsible for acoustic volume
backscattering (Sw) are assumed to be zooplankton and micronekton (Stanton et al. 1994;
Medwin and Clay 1998). There are several approaches to making standing stock
measurements of zooplankton and micronekton using acoustics (for a survey, see Hersey
and Backus 1962; Greene and Wiebe 1990; Wiebe and Greene 1994). One of the
simplest is to use a single-frequency echosounder to measure acoustic backscattering
from a volume of water, arid to then relate this measurement to number or bioniass of
sound-scattering organisms in that volume as determined by direct sampling with nets.
To date, there have been few acoustic surveys of deepwater zooplankton, micronekton, or
ichthyoplankton in the Gulf of Mexico. After the early work of van Schuyler and Hunger
(1967) and Thompson (1971) on acoustic volume backscattering, no studies using special
purpose acoustics to measure zooplankton, micronekton, or ichthyoplankton in the
deepwater GOM have reached the published literature. However, both moored and
vessel-mounted acoustic doppler current profilers (ADCPs) are routinely used to measure
the velocity of near-surface currents, and recently several volume backscattering studies
using ADCPs have been completed and published (Biggs et al. 1997; Zimmerman 1997;
Ressler et al. 1998; Wormuth et al. 2000; Zimmerman and Biggs 1999). The ADCP
transmits a sound pulse into the water and then awaits the return of sound scattered back
by passively drifting particles in the water colunrn. The Doppler shift of this
166
backscattered sound is then used to estimate current speed and direction. However, the
ADCP also measures the intensity of the backscattered acoustic return, which is
proportional to the number and backscattering cross sections of the particles in a given
ensonified volume of water (Clay and Medwin 1977; Medwin and Clay 1998). Although
the ADCP was not designed as a scientific echosounder (Brierly et al. 1998), ADCPs
have been successfully used to estimate the concentration of sound scatterers (Flagg and
Smith 1989; Ashjian et al. 1994; Zhou et al. 1994; Griffiths and Diaz 1996; Ressler et al.
1998). Some of the studies cited above (Ressler et al. 1998; Wormuth et al. 2000) have
employed 'sea-truth' sampling of zooplankton and rnicronekton using a 1 m2 mouth area,
333 im mesh size MOCNESS. With 1) information about the acoustical properties of
the ADCP and relevant hydrographic data, 2) net sampling of sound scattering
zooplankton and micronekton concurrent with ADCP surveys, and 3) some acoustic
theory to refine the estimate of what is being measured and how different sizes,
abundances, and taxa of zooplankton and rnicronekton are impacting the signal, it is
possible to produce ADCP-derived estimates of standing stock biornass and map
zooplankton and rnicronekton biomass distribution over depth, space, and time
(Figure 6.8).
Optical Sampling of Zooplankton and Micronekton Biomass
Underwater optical techniques, such as the video plankton recorder (VPR), provide
another more recently developed means of surveying zooplankton. Deepwater VPR
studies have not taken place in the GOM, but in other regions such observations have
been used in concert with net and acoustic sampling to study the coarse-scale abundance
and composition of zooplankton populations (Benfield et al. 1996; Davis et al. 1996;
Benfield et al. 1998).
A Combined Approach to Biomass Surveys
Traditional direct sampling and alternative acoustic and optical techniques are
complementary approaches. Net sampling provides taxonomic information that cannot
currently be gathered with acoustical or optical tecirniques; it also provides necessary
'sea-truth' information needed to interpret acoustical and optical data. However,
acoustics and optics can make nearly continuous measurements over various temporal
and spatial scales, providing zooplankton-micronekton-ichthyoplankton data with
sufficient resolution to examine temporal and spatial trends in a manner impossible with
net sampling at single discrete locations. This capacity is also useful given the growing
amount of coarse to mesoscale oceanographic data available from satellites. A
combination of net, acoustical, and optical techniques appears to be the optimum way to
study variations in zooplankton and micronekton standing stock biomass, and such a
unification of technologies will lead to better understanding of the interaction of
hydrography and ecology in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
167
Night, Cyclone Day, Cyclone Night, Confluence Night, LCE Day, LCE
10
42
74
106
138
170
202
2210 0010 0610 1210 1810 0010 0610 1200
Time (CDT)
-92 -87 -82 -77 -72 -67 -62
S(dBrem'4ir')
Figure 6.6. Grayscale running plot c S coUected with an ADCP along a north-south transect line from the deepwater offie Mississippi River,
through a cyclone, and into a Loop Current Eddy (LCE-C) during October1996 (Adapted from: Wormuth etal. 1999). Lighter areas
on the plot indicate higher S,, while dark colors indicate less intense returns. Since local time and location are both changing along
the x-axis, such field survey data include temporal variability (higher at night than in the daytime) as well as spatial variability
(higher S in the cyclone than in the anticyclone).
Acknowledgments: A number of people helped us with the technical aspects of this

review. Rezneat Darnell (Texas A&M University) and Dennis Emiliani (National Marine
Fisheries Service) were helpful sources of information for the expeditions of the 1950's
and 1960's, and Mark McDuff (SEAMAP Data Manager) provided the location of the
deepwater SEAMAP stations. Gloria Guffy and the microtext and reference staff at
Texas A&M University Sterling C. Evans Library helped with interlibrary loans of
source material, and Joel Ortega made the base maps with bathyrnetry that we have used
in Figs 6.1, 6.2, and 6.7.
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180
Appendix 6A: Deepwater Water Column Biology

Some studies of the systematics, biology, or ecology of particular
taxonomic groups of zooplankton, micronekton, and ichthyoplankton
:1z,:
1956, 1 957a, Fleminger Thesis and publications about copepods in the Gulf of
1957b, 1957c, Mexico (GUM), primarily using 195 1-1953
1959 near-surface collections from U.S. Bureau of
Commercial Fisheries vessel M/V Alaska
1956 Voss Extensive review cephalopods of the GUM, although it

contains only limited information about the smaller
planktonic or micronektonic species
1957 Gonzalez Thesis about the distribution of copepods off the

Mississippi delta in GOM during 1956
1968 Jones
.L:2ji. 1L
Paper on planktonic foraminifera of Caribbean and
limited areas of GOM; taxonomy, distribution, standing
crop, use as hydrographic indicator species
1969 Bright and Paper on deep-sea hatchet fishes of the GOM; known
Pequegnat species are listed along with observation on abundance,
distribution, behavior, and taxonomy
1969 Grice Paper on calanoid copepods of GUM and Caribbean

Sea, mainly taxonomic work
1969 Taylor Texas A&M thesis on heteropod distribution and

taxonomy in the GUM (first investigation of GUM
heteropod fauna per se)
1970, 1975 Lipka Thesis and dissertation about systematics, biology, and
zoogeography of GUM cephalopods
181

(Continued)
1970, 1974, Park Taxonomic work regarding calanoid copepods from the
1975a, 1975b, GOM and Caribbean Sea
1975c
1971 Austin Dissertation about the use of pteropods and

foraminifera as indicator organisms of eastern GOM
water masses
1971 Cruise Thesis in which two species of the decapod genus

Lucifer are examined and suggested as hydrographic
indicator species in the eastern GUM
1971 Schroeder Dissertation on the distribution of euphausiids in the

oceanic GOM, Yucatan Strait, and Caribbean; includes
Longhurst-Hardy sampling
1973 Ferrari Dissertation on the distribution of epipelagic cyclopoid

copepods in the GUM and Yucatan Strait; includes
Longhurst-Hardy sampling
1973 Hopkins Paper about the diet of the GUM hatchetfish Sternoptyx
and Baird diaphana
1974 Minello Thesis on the vertical distribution and feeding

relationships of calanoid copepods in the western GOM
1976 Berkowitz Thesis on neuston and near-surface zooplankton in the

northwest GUM, including taxonomic composition
1977 Hopkins Paper on the feeding ecology of midwater fishes; topics

and Baird include diet composition, feeding chronology, daily
food ration, prey choice, resource partitioning, and
bioenergetics
1977 Nafalctitis Large multi-authored volume about groups of fishes

et al. and zoogeographic provinces of the western north
Atlantic, including the GUM; of special interest is the
section on the myctophid fishes
182

Some studies of the systernatics, biology, or ecology of particular
(Continued)
--
1 980a, b Richards Two papers on distributions of a) bluefin tuna larvae
and Potthoff and b) other scombrid larvae and swordfish in the
GOM during the spring of 1977 and 1978
1981 Flock Paper on zooplarikton collections near an Ocean

and Hopkins Thermal Energy Conversation site off of Tampa Bay,
including taxonomic analysis and abundance of six
particular groups
1981 Heffernan Vertical disribution and feeding ecology of the penaeid

and Hopkins shrimp genera Gennadas and Bentheogennema
1982 Smith Dissertation on the abundance and foraging ability of

physonect siphonophores the subtropical waters in the
western GOM and off the Bahamas
1983 Murdy List of midwater fish collections in the GUM during the
et al. period 1965J 973 by the Rf\TAlaminos, including
locations and species accounts
1984 Cummings Paper describing the vertical structure and taxonomic

composition of calanoid copepods in the western GUM
1984 Michel National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

tecimical report on chaetognatha in "Caribbean Sea and
Adjacent Areas," including GUM; includes information
on distribution and identification
1984 Richards Distribution and abundance of nine groups of GOM

et al. ichthyoplankton, from 1982 SEAMAP bongo arid
neuston collections
1 985a Hopkins Paper about trophic ecology of the GUM myctophid

and Baird Lampanyctus alatus
183

(Continued)

1 985b Hopkins Paper on the feeding ecology of four species of GUM
and Baird hatchetfish
1986 Kelley Distribution and abundance of 10 groups of GUM

et al. ichthyoplankton, from 1983 SEAMAP bongo and
neuston collections
1986 McGowan Distribution and abundance of bluefin tuna larvae in the

and Richards GUM for 1982 and 1983, and spawning stock biomass
estimates for 1977-1978 and 1981-1983
1987 Gartner Paper about myctophids of the eastern GUM;

et al. information includes vertical distribution, species
composition, and abundance
1987 Shuert Vertical distribution and feeding ecology of the

and Hopkins copepod Euchaeta marina in the eastern GUM
1988 Dagg A study of copepod nauplii in northern GOM, primarily

et aL from the continental shelf, but including some
deepwater stations
1988 Ditty Paper on seasonal and depth distribution of larval fishes

et al. in the northern GOM includes tables of seasonal
occurrence, depth of occurrence, and previous studies
for specific taxa
1988 Gartner Paper about escapement of myctophids from midwater

et al. trawls, including size-selectivity (in terms of catch) of
net mesh size
1988 Lancrafi Paper on the trophic ecology of a GUM stomiid,

et al. Gonostoma elongatum
184

(Continued)

1989 Bemett Paper on the copepod genus Pleuromamma in the
and Hopkins eastern GOM
1989 Hopkins Caridean shrimp in the eastern GOM

et al.
1989 Ortner Correspondence analysis of zooplankton community

et al. structure and copepod species composition in GUM
1990 Grimes A review of information about larval king mackerel in

et al. the GUM, including information gained from
SEAMAP collections
1990 Passarella Thesis on oceanic cephalopods in the eastern GUM
1990 Kelley Distribution and abundance often groups of GUM

et al. ichthyoplankton, from 1986 SEAMAP bongo and
neuston collections
1990 Richards List and drawings of fishes of the western central

North Atlantic' (which includes GUM) by family.
includes species information and whether eggs,
juvenile, or larval stages are known
1991 Dagg and Paper about concentrations of copepod nauplii in the

Whitledge Mississippi plume, primarily at the edge of the
continental shelf
1991a, 1991b Gartner Life histories, age and growth patterns of three species
of eastern GUM myctophids using analysis of otoliths
1991 Goldman and Distribution and abundance of paralarval squid south of

McGowan Florida keys
185

(Continued)

1991 Grimes Includes frequency arid percent frequency of
and Finucane occurrence of families of ichthyoplankton from
SEAMAP neuston tows across a front between
Mississippi River water and oceanic water
1991 Passarella Paper on the species composition and food habits of

and Hopkins rnicronektonic cephalopods in the eastern GUM
1992 Cheng Paper about the marine insect Halobates in the GUM
and and Caribbean Sea
Wormuth
1992 Flock Paper describing species composition, vertical
arid Hopkins distribution, and food habits of sergestid shrimp in the
eastern GUM
1992 Hopkins Paper about resource partitioning and predation of

and Gartner eastern GUM myctophids
1993 Gartner Paper on reproductive patterns of myctophids in the

eastern GUM; includes abundance estimates for several
GUM myctophid genera
1993 Kelley Distribution and abundance of 10 groups of GUM

et al. ichthyoplankton, from 1984-1985 SEAMAP bongo and
neuston collections
1993 Richards Principal component analyses of larval fish

et al. assemblages across a Loop Current Boundary in the
GUM, using SEAMAP bongo collections
1994 Kinsey Paper about euphausiids in GOM, including cluster

and Hopkins analysis of vertical distribution, diet and morphology
186

taxonornic groups of zooplankton, micronekton, and ichthyoplankton
(Continued)

1994 Hopkins Paper about decapod and mysid assemblage in GUM,
et al. including cluster analysis of vertical distribution, diet
and morphology
1994 Suárez Distribution of pteropods in the GUM, Florida Current,

and Caribbean Sea; checklist of species in addition to
brief information about the geographical and vertical
distribution, biogeography, and ecology of each
1996 Hopkins Trophic structure and predation of eastern GUM

et aL midwater fish
1 996a, 1 996b Sutton Papers about stomiid fish assemblage in the eastern
and Hopkins GOM, including species composition, abundance,
vertical distribution, diet
1997a Lamkin Paper about the abundance of the larval fish Cub iceps
pauciradiatus in the Loop Current of the GUM
1997b Lamkin Paper describing larval stages of the stromateoid fish

Ariomma melanum in the GUM
1997 Scott Index for estimating bluefin tuna abundance based on

and Turner larval surveys (SEAMAP surveys) in the GUM
1998 Hopkins Diets and resource partitioning of micronekton

and Sutton (midwater fishes and shrimps) in the Gulf of Mexico
2000 Wormuth Included in a survey of zooplankton biomass in the

et al. northeast GUM are ongoing studies of the taxonomy,
distribution, and abundance of cephalopod paralarvae
and myctophid fish
187
Chapter 7: Non-Seep Benthos
Gilbert T Rowe
lntroduction 189
Community Description 193
Microb iota 193
Meiofauna 193
Macrofauna 193
Megafauna 197
Motile Scavengers 199
Community Metabolism 199
Community Function The Cycling of Organic Carbon 199
Comparison of the Gulf Benthos with Other Oceans 202
Conclusions 203
Introduction
The study of the deep benthos of the GUM can be divided into three eras. Early studies
prior to the 19th century were exploratory zoogeographic investigations. In the 1960's,
Willis E. Pequegnat initiated modem investigations of the standing stocks of the
megafauna. In the 1980's, the MMS supported an investigation of the continental slope
that encompassed state-of-the-art quantitative sampling of the meiof'auna, macrofauna,
and megafauna. Considerable work also has been initiated in the 1990's, but little of it
has been published yet.
The earliest explorations were concerned mostly with dredging the deep-sea floor. The
most extensive work is summarized by Agassiz (1888). Few generalizations could be
made in these works; they dealt mostly with lists of species and descriptions of new
species. Publications resulted on a broad suite of invertebrate taxa. None of the early
studies penetrated the western Gulf. These early investigations have been reviewed by
Gaitsoff (1954) and Geyer (1970).
The second important period of deep Gulf studies was initiated by Willis E Pequegnat in
the mid 1960's. A diverse series of investigations employed the R'V ALAM1NOS.
Efforts were made to characterize all geographic areas of the deep Gulf and the far
western Caribbean. The composite samples were divided up by taxon or by specialized
ecological problem among the graduate students at Texas A&M University working with
Pequegnat. The individual studies are available at Texas A&M University or at
University Microfilms. Many sampling trips extended well into what is now recognized
as Mexico's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) because at the time, no restrictions had
been placed on scientific sampling of these international waters. A similar geographic
distribution of studies would not be possible today without permission from Mexico.
These studies have been summarized by Pequegnat (1983) in a volume submitted to the
189
Rowe: Non-Seep Benthos
MMS. The work concentrated on samples taken with a sampling device developed by
Pequegnat called a "skimmer" (Pequegnat et al. 1970). It was equipped with an odometer
wheel to estimate distance covered. The anterior "mouth" of the skimmer measured 3 m
wide by 1 m high. The anterior frame of the rigid, hour glass-shaped structure was
covered with 1.25 cm galvanized wire mesh but its bulbous cod end was covered with
0.6 cm mesh. The distances traveled averaged several kilometers. The original meter
wheel data are available in the field notes taken aboard ship at the time of sampling. This
method sampled "megafauna," principally, and not other size categories. It had the
advantage that the samples were protected by the rigid posterior framework, and thus
fragile forms were damaged less than in conventional otter or beam trawls.
Faunal groups studied from the deep Gulf included the crustaceans (L. Pequegnat 1970;
Roberts 1970; Firth 1971), echinoderms (Booker 1971; Carney 1971), mollusks (James
1972), and fishes (Bright 1968), among others. Tabulation of fish gut contents was
intended to link the megafauna to its food source (Rayburn 1975). Kennedy (1976)
compared the species composition of the eastern and western Gulf faunas and concluded
that they were not the same. The macrofauna appeared to be grouped into assemblages
that were distributed within zones down the slope onto the abyssal plain (Kennedy 1976;
Roberts 1977), but no justification was found for separating the abyssal plain fauna into
zoogeographic provinces by latitude or longitude. That is, even though the fauna along
the slope changed with increasing depth and these changing faunas differed in the eastern
and western Gulf, down on the basin floor the fauna showed little in the way of east-west
differences.
The stations occupied by the ALAM1NOS also incorporated bottom multi-shot

photography to quantify areas of the seafloor. The principal rationale for this was to
quantify the densities of the epibenthic megafauna captured by the skimmer and other
miscellaneous trawls and dredge samples. It also allowed the users to count
"lebenspuren" (animal tracks and burrows) and qualitatively categorize the types of
sediments present. Although a 70 mm format camera was used on occasion, a 35 mm
camera built by Alpine Geophysical seems to have produced more good film. It was
rigged to take photographs on bottom contact of a trigger switch. The advantage of such
an approach is that distance between the camera and the bottom is always known and this
allows the operator to calculate the area each photograph covers with a given lens angle.
This technique can be calibrated with a grid in shallow water, if necessary. The records
available indicate that on the order of up to 50 photographs were taken per lowering and
each photograph covered an area of approximately 1 m2. An appendix in Pequegnat
(1983) features a large number of the photographs.
In addition to the biological studies, photographs of an "iron stone bottom" north of the
Yucatan Channel suggested deep bottom currents can be strong enough in the eastern
Gulf to sweep large areas free of sediments (Pequegnat 1972). The photographic
negatives of the entire collection of lowerings are archived in the Oceanography
Department at Texas A&M University (with the present exception of a station on loan to
the Universidad Nacional Autonomia de Mexico (UNAM).
190
Abyssal plains constitute a significant proportion of the surface of the earth. Although
generally acknowledged as the ultimate sink of detritus from the continents, their biota
has long been considered sparse and depauperate. The abysso-benthic communities of
the Sigsbee Deep in the western Gulf of Mexico, known as one of the flattest surfaces on
the deep ocean floor, is less well known than many other abyssal plains, in spite of its
modest depth (3.6 to 3.8 km) arid proximity to the United States and Mexico. The works
of Pequegnat remain the most extensive on the Sigsbee Deep plain.
The third historical timeframe represents the most extensive sampling of the sediment
biota of the continental slope of the northern Gulf of Mexico to date. The Northern Gulf
of Mexico Continental Slope (NGOMCS) study was conducted in the 1980's by LGL
Ecological Research Associates, Inc. with support from the MMS. This consisted of
paired Gray-O'Hara or GOMEX box cores (Boland and Rowe 1991), bottom survey
camera lowerings, and bottom trawling. The stations studied included three transects
down the continental slope off Texas, Louisiana, and Florida (Figure 7.1). Sampling
stopped at depths just shy of 3 km and therefore did not extend out onto the abyssal plain.
Thus, comparison with shelf and abyssal plain samples was not possible.
The work on deepwater benthos at Texas A&M University beginning in the 1960's up
through the IV]IMS-supported studies of the 1980's has been published in a concise
summary by Pequegnat et al. 1990). The focus was on the northern continental slope.
Other documentation of the studies of the slope include reports to MMS (Gallaway 1988;
Gallaway et al. 1 988a,b) and a dissertation on the polycbaete annelid worms (Hubbard
1995).
Considerable work has been initiated in the 1990's, but little of it has been published yet.
Th Instituto Ciencias del Mar y Limnologia of UNAM initiated extensive studies in the
southern Gulf of Mexico with the acquisition of the deep ocean research vessel J1JSTO
SIERRA. Mexican biologists are conducting studies of megafauna, demersal fishes,
macro fauna, and meiofatma from the continental shelf down across the slope onto the
Sigsbee Abyssal Plain. Stable C and N isotopes have been used to infer pathways
through a benthic food chain (Soto and Escobar 1995). Studies in deep water across the
Cordilleras Mexicanas or "Mexican Ridges" of the upper continental rise out onto the
Sigsbee Abyssal Plain have identified regions that contain enhanced biomass under
surface water masses characterized by accelerated rates of primary production
(Escobar-Briones and Soto 1997; Escobar-Briones et al. 1999). Polychaetes dominated
the infauna; they encountered a mid-slope maximum in abundance similar to that
described in the northern Gulf (Pequegnat et al. 1990). The fauna could be partitioned
into three groups that conformed to depth intervals of >3 km, intermediate depths of 1.5
and 3 kin, and shallow waters <1.5 km. This contrasts with the view of Pequegnat et al.
(1990) that the continental margin is characterized by five zones.
191
Figure 7.1. Station locations for the MMS-supported Northern Gulf of Mexico
Continental Slope (NGOCMS) Study conducted by LGL Ecological
Research Associates, Inc. (Gallaway 1988). Log transformed polychaete
densities (individualsm2) are shown from Hubbard (1995). Ranges of
densities from smallest to largest circles are as follows (numbers in
parentheses are numbers of occurrences): 250-630 (8); 630-1,000 (7);
1,000-1,340 (6); 1,340-1,560 (7); 1,560-1,800 (8); 1,800-2,040 (6);
2,040-2,270 (6); 2,270-2,470 (5); 2,470-2,860 (6).
En 1997, a two-ship operation by Texas A&M University and TJNAM was conducted at a
common station (25°15'N, 93°26'W) on the northern Sigsbee Abyssal Plain, at a depth of
3.65 km. The JTJSTO SIERRA traveled up from Tuxpan, sampling along an east-west
line across the Cordillera Tampiquena or Mexican Ridges (Escobar-Briones et al. 1999),
while the GYRE went due south out of Galveston, directly to the site. As this site is well
within the Mexican EEZ, all sampling conducted from the GYRE had to be approved
a priori by a suite of Mexican federal agencies. It is nestled within several nearby
locations that Pequegnat sampled with the skimmer and bottom photography.
Total sediment community respiration was measured using a benthic lander containing a
pair of automatically operated benthic incubation chambers used to measure fluxes of
metabolic gases across the sediment water interface. The lander and its operation have
been described previously by Rowe et al. (1994) and Rowe et al. (1997). Oxygen
consumption by the bottom and its contained biota is calculated from the decline of
oxygen within the chamber over time, the volume of the chamber, and the area of the
seafloor it covers. It was deployed once in the western Sigsbee Deep at a depth of
3.6 km.
192
Community Description
The standing stocks of the size categories of the biota have been grouped together, in
terms of biomass and numbers per square meter, for comparison (Table 7.1).
Microbiota
The microbiota of the deep Gulf sediments is not well characterized. While direct counts
have been coupled with some in situ and re-pressurized metabolic studies have been
made in other deep ocean sediments (Deming and Baross 1990), none has been made in
the deep Gulf. Direct counts using a fluorescing nuclear stain have been made at several
depths down the slope, thus allowing the bacterial biomass to be estimated from their
densities and sizes (Cruz-Kaegi 1998). Mean biomass was estimated to be 2.37 g C-m
for the shelf and slope (combined), and 0.37 g C-m2 for the abyssal plain. These data
indicated that the bacteria are the most important component of the functional biota in
terms of biomass. Comparisons are not yet possible with other ocean basins. Cruz-Kaegi
(1998) developed a budget for carbon cycling based on her estimates of biomass and
metabolic rates in the literature. Her budget illustrates that on the deep slope of the Gulf,
a large fraction of the organic carbon supplying the benthos with energy is cycling
through the bacteria.
Meio fauna
The extensive sampling by the NGOMCS study discovered that the meiofauna appears to
have a biomass that is higher than that of the macrofauna. The regressions of logio
numbers per square meter and biomass (as micrograms wet weight per square meter)
were the following (from Gallaway et al. 1988b):
Logio density = 5.87 0.00018 (depth in meters), and
Logio biomass 6.4 - 0.0002 (depth in meters).
Unfortunately, no estimates of biomass were made directly. Biomass was estimated from
conversion factors for each group in both the macrofauna and the rneiofauna. The
densities were 2.5 log units higher than macrofauna, which is not unusual. The biomass
was 0.5 log units above macrofauna, which is a reversal with the relationship found in
shallow water environments. If true, this confirms earlier studies in the Atlantic (Thiel
1983; Rowe et al. 1991) that implied that meiofaunal-sized organisms increase in
importance (in terms of biomass) at deep-sea depths relative to the macrofauna.
Cruz-Kaegi (1998) also observed this in her studies. No information is available on the
species composition or diversity of the meiofauna of the deep Gulf.
Macrofauna
Abundance and Biomass. Anchor dredge samples across the Sigsbee Deep and van
Veen grabs from the northern continental slope shelf suggested that deep biomass in the
Gulf was depauperate in numbers and biomass, similar to that in other ocean basins, but
that the mean size of the macrofauna was in general smaller than that in the Atlantic at
similar depths (Rowe 1971, 1983; Rowe and Menzel 1971; Rowe et al. 1974). The
lognormal relationship between abundance and depth (Figure 7.2) and biomass and depth
(Figure 7.3) has been confirmed now for numerous ocean basins (Rowe 1983), but the
slope of the line (biomass as a function of depth) for the Gulf appeared to be steeper than
that in most basins. It was suggested that this is due to the Gulf's low primary
productivity.
193
Table 7.1. Standing stocks of various size categories of benthic biota on the northern
Sigsbee Abyssal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. The JTJSTO SIERRA and
GYRE data are from a two-ship operation in 1997 by Texas A&M University
and the Universidad Nationale Autonorna de Mexico at a common station at a
depth of 3.65 km. ALAMIINOS megafaunal numbers are from Pequegnat
(1983); biornass was recently estimated based on preserved specimens from
the "systematics working collection" at Texas A&M University. Values are
means, with standard deviation and number of samples given where available.
Ship
Parameter
JIJSTO SIERRA GYRE ALAMThOS
Bacterial numbers NA 6.9x108 cells/mL NA
+ 1.2x108 (n=5)
Bacterial biomass NA 406 mg Cm2 NA
Meiofaunal numbers 288x103m2 NA NA
+ 81x103 (n=25)
Meiofaunal biomass 83 mg Cn12 NA NA
+ 22 (n25)
Macrofaunal numbers 1,281 indm2 318 indni2 NA
+ 635 (n=5) + 159 (n5)
(125 tm sieve) (macrofaunal taxa)
490 indm2
-I- 147 (n5)
(nematodes)
808 indm2 (total)
(250 tm sieve)
Macrofaunal biomass 32.2 mg Cm2 NA NA
± 15.3 (n=5)
Megafaunal numbers NA NA 10.5 ha'
Dytaster insignis
(seastar)
Benthodytes typica
(sea cucumber)
Megafaunal biomass NA NA 0.15 mg Cm2
Scavengers NA 21 per 24 hour NA
trap deployment
Eurythenes grillus
(amphipod)
Fishes NA NA NA
194
0 1000 2000 3000 4000
Depth
Figure 72. Density of macrofauna in the Gulf of Mexico

(From: Rowe et at. 1974).
4
y 286- 0.00032x R2 0,62
3- mm
D
U D
2 Lj1
1-
0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000
Depth
Figure 7.3. Biomass of the macrofauna in the Gulf of Mexico

(From: Rowe et al. 1974).
195
Abundance values are a function of sieve size. The NGOMCS study used 300 micron
sieves and the studies aboard J1JSTO SIERRA used 125 micron sieves. It might be
expected that they both sampled far more individuals per square meter than the earlier
studies by Rowe, who used a 420 micron sieve. The values for the NGOMCS samples,
however, ranged from 518 to 5,369 individualsm2, which is similar to that encountered
by Escobar-Briones et al. (1999) in the southwestern Gulf and by Rowe et al. (1974) in
the northern Gulf.
Regressions of biomass and abundance as a function of depth from the NGOMCS study
(Gallaway et al. 1988b) follow:
Log0 individualsm2 3.52 - 0.000 109 (depth in meters), and

Logjo micrograms wet weightm2= 5.88 0.000227 (depth).
Figure 7.1, which shows polychaete densities at the NGOMCS stations, also illustrates
this decline in abundance with depth (Hubbard 1995).
It has become clear that deep offshore abyssal plains in other oceans may have somewhat
fewer organisms than the Sigsbee Deep, but they are at much greater depth (Glover et al.
in press). The deep Gulf has on the order of 150 to 500 individualsm2, depending on
sieve size, taxa included, and region studied. Escobar-Briones et al. (1999) for example
suggested that the southern Gulf in the region of the Bay of Campeche had fewer
macrofauna than the northern Gulf. They suggested that this was due to higher primary
pro duction that resulted from the interaction of warm eddies and shelf water.
Diversity. Macrofaunal diversity was studied extensively in the NGOMCS study. The
general pattern was a decline in diversity from the upper slope down to the lower slope,
as reviewed by Lohse (1999). She suggested, by comparison with other studies on the
outer shelf, that a "diversity maximum" was located on the upper slope. This contradicts
earlier work in other basins which suggested that a diversity maximum is routinely
encountered at 2 to 3 km depth. Hubbard (1995) also utilized the polychaete annelid
fraction of the NGOMCS study to assess Gulf diversity. The polychaete fraction was
used because it was the most abundant taxon (65%) and he was confident that he could
separate them at the species level.
The studies of diversity used several measures. The diversity index referred to as the
Information Function, or H'(s), was calculated from the polychaete data because it is
simple to use, relatively independent of sample size, and has been used in numerous other
studies, including Gulf of Mexico benthos. Fragments were not included in the analysis.
The equation used follows:
H'(s) - - (ln pi x p1),
where p is the proportion of each species, i, to the total population sampled, i through n.
Also, Hurlbert's (1971) revision of the Sanders "rarefaction" curve, or Expected Species
(per 100 individuals), was calculated and plotted by Lohse, directly from the NGOMCS
data reports, and by Hubbard from his own polychaete data.
196
In general, the Gulf slope macrofauna is veiy speciose. Dominants are few. Rare species
are common. While shallow shelf studies in the Gulf typically encounter numerous
individuals represented by 50 to 60 or so species, the slope data suggest that 100 or so
species would be expected for a similar number of individuals. It has not yet been
possible to compare the Gulf with other similar studies because of differences in
teclmique.
There has been little attempt to uncover any seasonal variation in deep Gulf standing
stocks or processes. Sets of samples along the central transect of the NGOMCS study
were taken in spring and fall, which showed some change in animal abundances on the
upper slope (Figure 7.4). Polychaete abundance was twice as high in spring than in two
fall periods. Species composition did not appear to change, just densities. The best
description of this is in Hubbard (1995).
Megafauna
Zonation. Megafauna in the Gulf appears to occur in zones that are restricted to fairly
predictable depth intervals (Pequegnat 1983; Pequegnat et al. 1990). These were
designated 1) the Shelf/Slope Transition, down to about 500 in; 2) the Archibenthal Zone,
1-lorizon A (500 to 775 m); 3) the Archibenthal Zone, Horizon B (800 to 1,000 m); 4) the
Upper Abyssal Zone (1 to 2.3 kin); 5) Meso-Abyssal Zone (2.3 to 3.2 kin); and 6) Lower
Abyssal Zone (3.2 to 3.8 km). These names were given earlier by Meiizies et al. (1973)
for similar zones encountered along several continental margins of the world oceans. In
Pequegnat et al. (1990), percent similarities were presented of evidence that groups of
fishes and rnegafauna in the region of the De Soto Canyon in the eastern Gulf occur in
recurrent groups that could be considered zones. The rate of change in species
composition of the bottom fishes also suggested that there are depth intervals that can be
considered zones and other intervals that can be regarded as boundaries between zones.
The authors mention the species that dominate each zone. Most of these can be found
archived in the deep-sea systematic working collections at Texas A&M University. The
predictability of zones such as this, regardless of what they are called, may be useful for
understanding the effects of environmental variation, whether it is natural or the result of
some alteration by human activities.
The deep Gulf summary by Pequegnat (1983) suggested that megafauna on the abyssal
plain was substantially reduced in both numbers and species compared to the continental
slope. The megafauna was dominated by the carnivorous sea star Dytaster insigiiis and
the surficial deposit feeding sea cucumber Benthodytes typica. Both of these species had
wide bathymetric distributions that extended well up onto the continental slope. Other,
less abundant megafauna species also were observed with some regularity. This included
the brittle star Ophiomusiurn planum, which reached high densities in isolated locations
when encountered. Others observed were the sea cucumber Psychropotes semperiana
and the penaeid crustacean Benthesicymus cereus/iridescens. A number of other large
crustacean species were observed in these earlier studies, but it is not clear if they were
associated with the bottom or were captured up in the water column (Nematocarcinus
ensfer, for example). There was little evidence that many demersal fishes extended out
onto the abyssal plain. Pequegnat (1983) suggested that the "terminal predator" on the
abyssal plain was the sea star D, insignis; he inferred this because the predatory sea stars
increased in abundance at depth intervals over which the demersal fishes were declining
197
500
400 -
Spring
300
Fall .
200 -
100 -
C-line, West of Mississippi Canyon

0
0 1000 2000 3000
Depth (m)
Figure 7.4. Comparison of polychaete densities at two different time periods on the
upper slope of the northern Gulf of Mexico (Adapted from: Hubbard 1995).
Abundance and Biomass. The abundance of the dominant megafauna was estimated
with two methods in the studies that Pequegnat (1983) has reviewed: multishot bottom
photographic transects and use of the skimmer with an odometer wheel. The sea star
D. insignis, according to Pequegnat, had mean densities of approximately 5 per hectare at
depths of 3.6 km. B. typica reached similar values: from 4 to 7 individuals per hectare.
Similar numbers were observed for the large crustaceans B. cereusliridescens,
Nematocarcinus ensfer, and the sea cucumber P. semperiana. It is not clear, however, if
the crustaceans were caught on the bottom or in the water column; therefore, they have
been left out of the assessment of total benthic standing stocks.
Biomass was not measured in these earlier studies. However, many of the specimens are
archived in a "systematics working collection" originally established by Willis and Linda
Pequegnat on the Texas A&M University campus. This enabled our review to find a
representative number of the dominants, B. lypica and D. insignis, and determine their
mean biomass on preserved specimens approximately 30 years after they were captured.
The D. insignis were dried specimens. They had a mean dry weight of 2.88 g per
individual (G=2.2, n=1 1). Mean disk diameter was 23.3 mm (c=9, n=1 1). The
holothurian B. typica individuals have been preserved in 70% ethanol and they were
measured wet: mean=4.04 grains per individual (c=1.4, n13). They had a mean length
of 6.6 cm (=1.1, n=13) and a diameter of 1.7 cm (c=0.35, n=13). Thus, the sea star had
a mean dry weight of 14.4 g per hectare and the holothurian had a mean wet weight of
22.2 g per hectare. The latter value would be equivalent to approx. 3.3 g per hectare dry
198
Rowe: NonSeep Benthos
weight (Rowe 1983). The two together would be equivalent to approximately 1 .77x1 0
g dry weightrn2.
Some megafauna are distributed in peculiar patches. The most consistent such animal
patches in the Gulf appear to be the contagious distribution of the holothuroid Peniagone
sp. These were rarely taken in trawls, but occurred as clumps of dozens of individuals in
photographs, in the photographic surveys made in the NGOMCS study. The highest
densities at a lowering were 1.6 x 1 ü per hectare at a depth of 1.25 km. The reasons for
the patchiness are not known. Other patches have been attributed to the proximity to
fossil hydrocarbon seeps. Odd "reefs" of sponges are seen occasionally, but the causes of
these accumulations are not known. Densities estimated with photography were always
far higher than that estimated with the trawls.
Motile Scavengers
Little is known about deep-living scavengers in the GOM. On several occasions, baited
traps have been used to capture organisms. None of the information in these studies has
been published however. In the 1997 Texas A&M University/UNAM studies with
GYRE and JTJSTO SIERRA, a deep baited trap was deployed and a single species was
captured: the cosmopolitan amphipod crustacean Eurythenes grillus. The numbers taken,
however, appeared to be small (21 per 24 hour deployment) compared to similar trap
deployments in other ocean basins. The significance of this group needs further study in
the deep Gulf.
Community Metabolism
Sediment oxygen consumption has been measured at a single site on the deep abyssal
plain in the eastern Gulf, and the rate measured was equivalent to approximately
6.7 mg Cni2d' (Hinga et al. 1979). On the Sigsbee Abyssal Plain, an unpublished value
of 4.1 mg Cm2-d' was measured. At this time it is impossible to know if this difference
is real or simply due to a difference in gear used. In any case, the two values are not
remarkably different from values at similar depths and temperatures elsewhere in the
world's oceans. Values listed by Smith and Hinga (1983) for this depth range go from
2.6 to 25 mg Cm2d', and so our rate falls at the low end of the range.
Community Function - The Cycling of Organic Carbon

The information on the stock sizes and respiration rates of the biota have been put
together into a carbon budget for the slope and abyssal plain (Figure 7.5; Rowe et al.
2000) based in part on previous work by Cruz-Kaegi (1998). A budget of this sort allows
a comparison of how carbon is both stored and cycled within an ecosystem. Values for
the boxes are standing stocks in units of mg Cm2, integrated to a depth of 20 cm,
whereas the arrows are fluxes of carbon between the boxes, with units of mg Cm2d'.
The arrow at the upper left represents inputs of organic carbon to the system whereas the
arrows that do not enter a box are losses of organic carbon from the system. Most of the
199
9.7 (7.7to 11.7)

Input of POC
4.85
Sediment Organics Respiration
and Microbiota
(3200 + 400)
9.5e3 4.3
4.7 Respiration
Meiofauna
(83)
Longterm Burial
Grazing
0.43
Predation
0.12 0.55
Deposit Feeding
Macrofauna
(32.5) Respiration
Predation 4.0e
Respiration \!/ Predation
2.5e Megafauna
(0.16)
Predation
Respiration,,
3. 6e
Figure 7.5. Preliminary carbon flow model for the deepsea benthos of the northern Gulf of Mexico
(From: Rowe et al. 2000). Values in boxes are standing stocks of organic carbon in mg
Cm-2, integrated to a depth of 20 cm. Arrows represent fluxes, with values expressed in
mg Cm2d-i.
200
losses are the remineralization of organic matter to CO2. The input term, in this case, is
estimated from the sum of the respiration loss terms by the community, plus long-term
burial. An independent estimate of input can also be derived from measures of primary
productivity in the overlying water and then applying the "Suess relationship" (Suess
1980) to estimate arrival of particulate matter at the seafloor. We assume the input varied
by a factor of two or so over an annual cycle, with the highest productivity occurring
during the winter when the phytoplankton biomass is highest (Muller-Karger et al. 1991).
Most of the loss terms are respiration. Respiration remineralizes organic carbon to
metabolic CO2. It is the largest consumer of organics in any typical benthic community
and it can be estimated from oxygen fluxes. The sum of the aerobic respiration by the
sediment dwelling organisms (bacteria, meiofauna and macrofauna) is equal to the value
measured with the incubation chambers. This can be converted to carbon by assuming a
respiratory quotient (RQ) of 0.85 (moles of CO2 produced per moles of 02 consumed).
The respiration of the individual groups was estimated by Cruz-Kaegi (1998)

independently from known size and temperature relationships in the literature (Mahaut et
al. 1995). The regression produced by Mahaut et al. (1995) relating size and respiration
rates was used to calculate a first-order respiration coefficient for the mean size of each
size groups.
The estimates of respiration for each size category allow us to further partition the flow
of organic matter through the food web. The sum of the arrows entering each standing
stock must equal the sum of the arrows leaving each stock, for the system to be in steady
state. Given the information generated on the respiration rates of each of the components
above, we can then calculate exchanges between the boxes to maintain steady state. This
is a step-wise analysis that has been utilized previously on benthos over a broad range of
latitudes (Cruz-Kaegi 1998), in addition to the Demerara Abyssal Plain (Rowe and
Deming 1985) and the continental margin off NE Greenland (Rowe et al. 1998). The
resulting solutions for the predator-prey relationships are not always unique. As
indicated, they are based on reasonable inferences of how the size classes are most
probably partitioning their resources.
Cruz-Kaegis (1998) relationships are close to several of the measurements described in

Relexans et al. (1996). A value for bacterial efficiency that is high tends to "conserve"
carbon within the system, rather than burning it off as metabolic CO2. The production of
the bacteria must be held in check by bactivory to maintain steady state and this has been
directed primarily into the meiofauna, with a small fraction into the macrofauna. It was
assumed the meiofauna had a 10% growth efficiency and thus the loss terms are
respiration and predation by macrofauna, as indicated. The total meiofauna demand must
therefore be met by bactivory and direct sediment consumption. Macrofauna fluxes are
calculated in a similar fashion.
The megafauna was assumed to be growing at a very slow rate and this is transferred by
predation to the fishes. Fish growth is assumed to be zero; thus, the megafauna growth
rate is equal to fish respiration.
201
The standing stock of the organic matter was calculated from the concentration of organic
carbon (0.6%), the porosity (85%), and the density of the sediment. Thus, organic carbon
in the surface 5 cm of sediment is 3,600 mg C-m2. The burial rate was estimated from
long-term burial rates (William R. Bryant, pers. comm.), as follows. Approximately 1 to
2 m of Holocene pelagic sediments, composed primarily of foram ooze, are spread rather
uniformly over the entire Sigsbee Deep. On the continental margins, the thickness of the
Holocene material is 3 to 4 m deep. Thus, the rate of accumulation on geologic time
scales are Ca. 100 to 200 cm per 13,000 years; at the time scales of our budget this is ca.
0.015 cmy'. Multiplying this by the concentration in a 1 cm thick layer (225 mg Cm2)
gives a burial rate of ca. 3.5 mg Cm2y', or 0.0095 mg C'm2d1, the appropriate units in
the budget. This value is comparable to the low flux rates estimated for the larger sized
groups of organisms (megafauna and fishes).
Comparison of the Gulf Benthos with Other Oceans

The standing stocks of the principal components of the benthic community have been
measured together for the first time at a site in the Sigsbee Deep in the northwest GOM
(Rowe et al. 2000). The relationship of bacteria numbers in abyssal sediments from the
limited data available for the world's oceans has been regressed on depth, organic carbon
concentrations, and particulate organic carbon (POC) fluxes to the seafloor by Deming
arid Baross (1990). They found that the best predictor of logio total bacterial biomass was
log 0POC fluxes. If we assume that our "input" term in our budget, estimated from the
sum of the measured or estimated carbon demand, is equal to the POC fluxes measured in
sediment traps in their study, then we can use this term in their regression. Our value for
biomass (408 mg Cm2-20 cm depth) suggests, based on their regression, that the POC
flux should be on the order of 24 mg Cm2 d*
The abundance and biomass of the macrofauna was somewhat higher than previously
estimated in the southern GOM (Rowe and Menzel 1971). Escobar-Briones et al. (1999)
made comparisons with several similar ocean basins and noted that abundances were
higher in the northern Gulf than in the Bay of Campeche. We suggest that this area
experiences intensified surface primary production that results from the interaction of
warm eddies (Muller-Karger et al. 1991). The differences with the measurements in the
southern Gulf presented by Rowe and Menzel (1971) may be due to gear: the earlier
studies used a semi-quantitative anchor dredge and not a spade or box corer.
The biomass of the macrofauna in the Sigsbee Deep was not statistically separable from a
general mean for the "global" ocean at a depth of 3.7 km, based on more than 700 values
measured with a wide variety of sampling gear (Rowe 1983). A regression of logio
biomass as wet preserved weight as a function of depth in meters suggests that biomass at
3.7 km depth at the deep end of the Gulf regression line would be expected to be
approximately 0.64 grn2.
A fair number of trawls have been taken across extensive areas of the continental margin
in both the northwest Atlantic (Haedrich and Rowe 1977; Haedrich et al. 1 980), and the
202
northeast Atlantic (Lampitt et al. 1986), thus making it possible to compare densities and
biomass of megafauna and fishes with the Gulf. Lampitt et al. (1986) plotted logio
biomass of total invertebrate megafauna as a function of depth in the northeast Atlantic
near the Porcupine Bight. Their regression line predicts that 0.31 g wet weight-m2
should be encountered at 3.7 km depth. Haedrich et al. (1980) measured a wet preserved
weight of approximately 0.08 gm2 of fishes and 0.05 gm2 of megafaunal invertebrates
(echinoderms and crustaceans) between depths of 3.2 and 37 km, suggesting that the
abundance and biornass of these groups is lower than in the Porcupine Bight of the
northeast Atlantic. The lower value above is higher than we have estimated for similar
depths in the Gulf (0.006 g wet preserved weight m2= approximately 0.155 mg-C m2);
thus, compared to the Atlantic, the deep Gulf megafauna appears to be relatively
depauperate. The extensive data from both the east and west sides of the North Atlantic
had ranges of as much as three orders of magnitude at any given depth.
The diversity of the polychaete fraction confirms that the Gulf of Mexico harbors a
diverse fauna, as is typical for much of the deep-sea floor (Rex 1983). The numbers of
species, 1-I' (s) and the expected number of species per hundred individuals however are
rather low compared to values on the upper continental slope and outer continental shelf
(Lohse 1999). This pattern relative to depth is different from that in other basins:
maximum diversity, regardless of "index" used, is found on the lower slope or the upper
rise. The values we encountered were somewhat lower than that in other basins. Thus, a
preliminary conclusion is that the pattern in the Gulf is different from most basins, with
maximum diversities at the shallower depths of the upper slope and outer shelf (100 to
1,000 rn), rather than at the slope base (2 to 3 km), as described by Rex (1983). The
apparent decline with depth might be due to the limiting sill depth, the variability of the
deepwater environment (seeps from fossil hydrocarbons buried deep in the sediments,
temperature variations due to warm eddies originating in the Loop Current in the eastern
Gulf, nepheloid layers associated originally with the Mississippi River, sediment siumps
and turbidity flows), or inadequate sample size. The latter artifact cannot be discounted
because we continued to add equal numbers of previously unencountered species with
each additional box core, thus suggesting that many more species were present than we
had actually sampled. This question can only be answered by more intense sampling.
The abyssal plain of the Gulf differs from those in the maj or ocean basins because it is
shallower (3.6 to 3.8 kin) and warmer (4.2°C). Thus, one might expect that the
characteristics of communities of organisms might differ from "typical" oceanic abyssal
plains.
Conclusions
The study of the deep benthos of the Gulf of Mexico can be divided into three eras. Early
studies prior to the 19th century were exploratory zoogeographic investigations. In the
1960's Willis Pequegnat initiated modern investigations of the standing stocks of the
megafauna. In the 1980's the MMS supported an investigation of the continental slope
that encompassed state-of-the-art quantitative sampling of the meiofauna, macrofauna,
and megafauna.
203
Rowe: Non-Seep Ben thos
Metazoan biomass is dominated by the meiofauna. The Eastern Gulf is not similar in
species composition to the Western Gulf and this can attributed to a difference in
substrate. The Western Gulf sediments are telTigenous whereas the Eastern Gulf
substrate is carbonate. Fauna! diversity of the macrofauna is high but it is not
characterized by a mid-depth maximum. The low biornass of the macrofauna and the
megafauna suggest that the biota is food limited. Budgets of carbon cycling on the slope
suggest that most of the organic matter is cycled through the smaller animals of the
communities.
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Rowe, G., G. Boland, W. Phoel, R. Anderson, and P. Biscaye. 1994. Deep sea-floor respiration
as an indication of lateral input of biogenic detritus from continental margins. Deep-Sea
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Rowe, G, G. Boland, E.G. Escobar Briones, M.E. Cruz-Kaegi, A. Newton, D. Piepenburg,
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core data. Jour. Mar. Systems 10:497-515.
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and J. Deming. 1998. Sediment community biomass and respiration in the northeast
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Antonio, TX.
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207
Chapter 8: Seep Communities
lati K MacDonald
Introduction 209
Background Biology 210
Microbiology of Chemosynthesis 210
Symbiosis with Invertebrates 210
Discoveries of Chemosynthetic Communities 211
Hydrothermal Vents 211
The Florida Escarpment 211
The Northern Gulf of Mexico Continental Slope 211
The Gulf of Mexico Seep Fauna 212
Vestimentiferan Tube Worms 212
Seep Mussels 214
Vesicomyid Clams 216
Lucinid Clams 216
Polychaete "Ice Worms" 216
Beggiatoa Mats and Other Protozoans 218
Heterotrophic Fauna 218
Types of Seep Communities in the Northern Gulf of Mexico 219
Bush Hill 220
Brine Pool NR1 221
Garden Banks 386 221
Alaminos Canyon 222
Distribution of Seep Communities in the Northern Gulf of Mexico 222
Introduètion
This is a review of publications relevant to the so-called seep fauna of the northern Gulf
of Mexico. The objective is to provide the best citations for the most pertinent facts.
Peer-reviewed articles are given priority where available, unless an important sequence in
the knowledge base is captured by reference to reports or other secondary literature.
Reports and dissertations are cited when nothing has yet been published in peer-review
sources. Personal cormnunications are avoided. An initial discussion of background
biology mentions the seep fauna analogues at hydrothermal vents. This material is
provided without any attempt to give comprehensive citation. The reader needing wider
information on chemosynthetic fauna at hydrothermal vents should consult reviews by
Turmicliffe et al. (1998) for distribution and ecology or Nelson and Fisher (1995) for
physiology and symbiont-host interaction. Nor does this discussion treat the worldwide
occurrence and attributes of seep fauna outside the Gulf of Mexico. A recent review by
Sibuet and Olu (1998) provides a reliable starting point for the cold seep literature.
209
MacDonald: Seep Communities
Background Biology
Microbiology of Chemosynthesis
Chemosynthesis is a mode of life practiced by numerous groups of bacteria, which are

able to oxidize simple compounds such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and methane (CH4)
(Janriasch 1989). The sulfide-oxidizing forms use energy released by the oxidation
process to drive the cellular machinery of carbon fixation. These bacteria produce
carbohydrates, proteins, and other complex organic compounds starting with the basic
building blocks of nutrients and water. Like photosynthetic plants, chemosynthetic
bacteria are thus able to form new organic compounds at the base of the food chain.
Ecologically, chemosynthetic bacteria differ from green plants because they do not need
light and do require free oxygen. In their free-living forms, chemosynthetic bacteria are
found where a substrate is enriched with H2S or CI-L1. Such conditions often occur in the
anaerobic sediments of marshes or sewage treatment ponds where the decomposition of
organic matter produces these chemically reduced compounds in abundance. Because
they require the means for oxidizing their chemical nutrient source, chemosynthetic
bacteria typically live at the interface between reduced sediments and oxygenated water
(Nelson et al. 1986). A common form is Beggiatoa, which lives in Jong filaments that
form pale-colored mats on sediment surfaces (Larkin et al. 1994; Nikolaus 1995). In
shallow aquatic habitats, chemosynthetic bacteria are one component of complex systems
comprising numerous pathways for producing and recycling organic matter.
Below the photic zonein depths of 300 m or morephotosynthesis is no longer

possible and nutrient limits sharply constrain the possibilities for community structure.
Where seepage of hydrocarbons, venting of hydrothermal fluids, or other geological
processes supply abundant reduced compounds, chemosynthesis becomes the dominant
component of the ecosystem. In the northern Gulf of Mexico, these conditions are met
where oil and gas seep into seafloor sediments at depths of-400 m and greater.
Although chemosynthesis remains an exclusively microbial process at the cellular level,
chemosynthetie communities in the deep sea achieve prominence because of symbiotic
partnership between chemosynthetic bacteria and invertebrate hosts (Fisher 1990).
Symbiosis with Invertebrates
Free-living chemosynthetic bacteria are limited to interfaces because they simultaneously

require oxygen and reduced compounds that would spontaneously oxidize in the presence
of oxygen. Symbiotic partnership with invertebrate hosts greatly extends the possible
habitat for the chernosynthetic mode of life (Tunnicliffe et al. 1998). Specific adaptations
vary, but the basic arrangement is that the bacteria live within specialized cells in the host
organism. The host physiology supplies oxygen and chemosynthetic substrates to the
bacteria, often by means of specialized blood chemistry (Arp et al. 1984, 1987), and
exploits the resulting bacterial productivity (Nelson and Fisher 1995).
210
Discoveries of Chemosynthetic Communities
Hydrothermal Vents
Awareness of chemosynthetic communities in the Gulf of Mexico came in a series of

steps. The initial recognition that certain locations in the seafloor might harbor dense
assemblages of invertebrates occuned in 1977, when anomalous concentrations of clam
shells were photographed in the vicinity of hydrothermal vents in the eastern Pacific
Ocean (Lonsdale 1977). The connection between chemical enrichment and this fauna
was not made until Submarine ALVIN visited the area (Corliss et al. 1979) and
disovered assemblages of vestimentiferan tube worms, RfUa pachyptila, which were
unknown to science; the vent mussel, Bathyrnodiolus thermophilis; and a clam,
Calyptogena magnfIca. Interestingly, chemosynthetic tube worms, Lamellibrachia
barharni, had already been described as a new species, but without recognition of their
nutritional mode (Webb 1969). Aceata bullisi, a bivalve commonly associated with Gulf
of Mexico tube worms, had also been described from material undoubtedly collected at
an oil seep (Volkes 1963; Kohl and Vokes 1994). The importance of chemoautotrophic
symbionts for these species was not elucidated until 2 years later (Cavanaugh et al. 1981;
Felbeck et al. 1981).
The Florida Escarpment

Because the Gulf of Mexico is not a tectonically active region and lacks hydrothermal
venting, chemosynthetic fauna were not anticipated here. Another ALVIN cruise, this
time to the base of the Florida Escarpment in the eastern Gulf, unexpectedly found
vestimentiferans and Bathymodiolus-like mussels at so-called cold seeps near the location
26°02'N and 84°55'W and at a water depth of approximately 3,200 m (Paull et al. 1984;
Hecker 1985). This site is a continental margin brine seep, also called a cold seep, where
brines fonned by dissolution of the limestone Florida Platform seep out into hemipelagic
sediments at the base of the Florida Escarpment (Paull and Neumann 1987). The brines
are enriched in sulfides and the stable isotope signature of the source fluid can be seen in
the tissue of the chemosynthetic fauna (Paull et al. 1985). The vestimentiferans and their
symbionts depend upon this sulfide source (Cavanaugh 1985; Cary et al. 1989), but it
would be shown that the mussels possessed methylotrophic symbionts (Cavanaugh et al.
1987) that could be supported by methane dissolved in the brine. Because of its depth,
the Florida Escarpment site can only be sampled with ALVIN, so the site has not been
well sampled and was last visited during two dives in June 1992. The reader can review
summaries of ALVIN dives in the Gulf of Mexico via the URL
http://www.marine.whoi.edu/webpub/divelog/default.htm.
The Northern Gulf of Mexico Continental Slope

Concunent with discoveries on the Florida Escarpment, chemosynthetic fauna were
found at hydrocarbon seeps on the northern Gulf of Mexico continental slope. The initial
discovery came as a result of sampling by otter trawl, which targeted several known oil
seeps (Kennicutt et al. 1985). The trawl recovered vesicomyid clams (Calyptogena
ponderosa and Vesicoinya cordata), a new species of mussel, Bathymodiolus childressi,
and two still undescribed vestimentiferan species Lamellibrachia n. sp. c.f. barhami
211
Webb, and Escarpia n. sp. The first photographic evidence of these communities
(Boland 1986) was obtained in the course of a research program sponsored by MMS
(Gallaway 1988), which also sponsored the first submarine dives to Gulf of Mexico
hydrocarbon seeps. These species and their associated benthic communities will be
discussed in more detail below. Additional findings about hydrocarbon seep
communities that were published during the initial discovery phase included the
following: 1) demonstration that these fauna derived their nutritional requirements from
hydrocarbons (Brooks et al. 1987); 2) demonstration of methanotrophy by the seep
mussel (Chuldress et al. 1986); 3) recognition of the association of the fauna with specific
seep attributes (Kermicutt et al. 1988a); and 4) the first submarine dives to visit a seep
community (MacDonald et al. 1989).
The Gulf of Mexico Seep Fauna

The following four sections provide a synopsis for each of the maj or invertebrate groups
that live at fluid seeps and that host chemoautotrophic symbionts.
Vestimentiferan Tube Worms

These unusual worms lack mouth, gut, and anus and were originally assigned to a new
phylum, Vestimentifera (Jones 1985). Subsequently the vestimentiferan group has been
re-understood as highly adapted polychaetes (Southward 1991). Vestimentiferans
include the first tube worm species discovered at hydrothermal vents, Rftia pachyptila
(Jones 1980), but are related to the Pogonophora, a group of small, thin tube worms that
have a cosmopolitan distribution on reducing sediments (Southward and Southward
1987). All vestimentiferans occupy a tube composed of 3-chitin (Gaul et al. 1992) and
possess blood containing a unique hemoglobin that is capable of simultaneously and
reversibly binding oxygen and sulfide; the latter is normally a powerful toxin (Arp et al.
1987). Vestimentiferan anatomy features a vascularized plume (red in color), which is
the gas-exchange organ, that extends prominently from the anterior tube-end, and can be
retracted in defense (Gardiner and Jones 1993). Additionally, a sac-like organ called the
trophosome extends within the tube and harbors chemoautotrophic bacteria, which live in
specialized host-cells (Nelson and Fisher 1995).
Two species are common in the Gulf of Mexico: Lamellibrachia n. sp. cf. barhami Webb
and Escarpia n. sp. The life-mode of Gulf of Mexico tube worms was first described by
MacDonald et al. (1989), who write that Lamellibrachia is the larger animal and forms
bush-like clusters of several hundred individuals, typically 1 cm in diameter and often
2 rrì long. The tube is often held 1 m or more above the seafloor. Figure 8.1 shows
clusters of tube worms at a mid-slope seep site. Escarpia are smaller in total length and
often live at the base of Lamellibrachia clusters. They are distinguished by a short, flared
tube extended 10 to 15 cm above the sediment. Gulf of Mexico tube worms possess
symbionts that utilize H2S, which the tube worm absorbs from fine root-like structures
that extend below the buried portions of the tubes (Julian et al. 1999). This is clearly an
adaptation to life in a sedimentary environment, where sulfidic fluids are not venting
vigorously, as they do at hydrothermal vents, but are instead dissolved in the pore volume
of the upper sediment column. Buried tube length may be as much as 30% of total
length. These animals grow at rates typically less than 1 cm-y', so that a large adult may
212
Figure 8.1. Photographs taken with vertically-mounted 35 mm camera (Figure 3 from MacDonald et al.
1989). A: Bushlike clusters of Lamellibrachia sp. (t), carbonate boulder (c), and bacterial mat
(b). B: Small tangle of Lamellibrachia sp. with attached Acesta bullisi (a), obturacular plume of
Lamellibrachia sp. (o), and an escarpiid vestimentiferan (e). C: Basket-like cluster of
Lamellibrachia sp. with seep mussels in center, epifaunal sponge (s). D: Transition between a
bed of seep mussels and sparse clusters of Lamellibrachia sp.; note dead mussel shells.
213
be 200+ years old. A single large cluster marks a location where hydrocarbon seepage
has continued unabated for several hundred years or more (Fisher et al. 1997). Larvae of
Lamellibrachia n. sp. and Escarpia n. sp. have been cultured invitro from fertilized eggs
(Young et al. 1996), and were shown to be strong swimmers during a 2 to 3 week larval
phase. This is interpreted as an adaptation to finding active seep habitats for settlement.
Seep Mussels
Members of the mytilid genus Bathymodiolus harbor symbionts in specialized cells

within their gill linings, but retain functional feeding grooves and a gut (Fisher et al.
1 988b, 1992). The vent mussel, B. thermophilus, maintains symbionts that oxidize
thiosulfate (Nelson and Fisher 1995). A key discovery in the history of the Gulf of
Mexico seeps was that the seep mussel, B. childressi, possesses methanotrophic
symbionts (Childress et al. 1986). Subsequently, other species of seep mussels were
shown to possess both methane-oxydizing and sulfide-oxidizing symbionts (Fisher et al.
1992). An early experiment demonstrated that growth of juvenile B. childressi could be
turned on or off by regulating the supply of gas to experimental specimens, effectively
proving that the animal is able to supply its entire energy and carbon requirements from
methane (Cary et al. 1988). Methane and oxygen are supplied to the symbionts through
the ventilation of the gills (Nix et al. 1995). Because the requirement is for dissolved
CH4, seep mussels are restricted to locations where Cl-I4 concentrations are high, for
example near active gas vents, as first described by MacDonald et al. (1989), but
dissolved CU4 can also be supplied in seafloor brines (MacDonald et al. 1 990a,b). At
such sites, mussels may completely cover the seafloor in mats that are bound together by
byssal threads and extend for tens of meters or more. The maximum length of an adult is
12 to 13 cm. The growth rates are slow, with juveniles requiring possibly 20 years to
reach maturity and large adults frequently surviving 40 years (Nix et al. 1995).
Taxonomy of Gulf of Mexico seep mussels was resolved by Gustafson et al. (1998), who
described five new species. Table 8.1 summarizes the ilames and pertinent aspects of
these species. Figure 8.2 shows outlines and relative sizes of these species.
Table 8.1. Summary of taxonomic designations of seep mussels from the northern Gulf
of Mexico taken from original descriptions in Gustafson et al. (1998).
Name Locality Comment

Bathyinodiolus brooksi Alaminos Canyon (2,250 rn Possesses sulfide-oxidizing
depth) symbionts
Bathyrnodiolus childressi Mid-slope hydrocarbon seeps Common seep mussel
Bathymodiolus heckerae Florida Escarprneiit Methylotrophic symbionts
Idas macdonaldi Single collection from GB386 Found in coarse, oil-soaked
sediment
TarnufIsheri Mid-slope hydrocarbon seeps Possesses sulfide-oxidizing
symbionts
214
Bath ymodiolus brooksi (Xl)
50mm
Bathymodiolus heckerae (Xl) "idas" macdonaldi (X1O)
"Bathymodiolus childressi (Xl) Tamu fisheri (X2)
Figure 8.2. Bathymodiolusheckerae, B. brooks B. chlldress Tamu f/shari, and Idas macdonaidi (Figure II from Gustafson etal. 1998). Inset
of a graded series of shell outlines illustrating change in shape wfth increase in size. Only one specimen of hhldasu macdonald/is
iIIustated. Dottend lines connect the relative positions of the anterior edge of the umbones in specimens of different
size. Note scale bar and magnifications.
Vesicomyid Clams
The family Vesicomyidae is found in deep-sea settings worldwide. The species

Calyptogena magntIca was among the specimens collected during the discovery dives at
the Galopágos Rift (Boss and Turner 1980). The two species known from the Gulf of
Mexico are Calyptogena ponderosa and Vesicomya cordata, which were originally
described from material collected in the Gulf of Darien, Caribbean Sea (Boss 1968).
These are surface-dwelling bivalves that plow long, curving furrows across the seafloor
(Rosman et al. 1987). These "trails" and the accumulation of shell debris are distinctive
features marking active seeps on the mid-slope (Figure 8.3). Most of what is known
about vesicomyids comes from study of specimens at hydrothermal vents or cold seeps
(Ohta et al. 1987) in other regions of the world. In the basic feeding mode, the foot is
thrust forward and down into an anoxic substratum while the siphon is extended into the
bottom water with the exposed portion of the shell (Hessler et al. 1985; Fisher et al.
1988a; Hessler and Kaharl 1995). This allows that animal to absorb H2S across the foot
epithelium, from where it is transported to symbiont-lined gills via specialized blood
chemistry (Arp et al. 1984). Adult vesicomyids from the Gulf of Mexico are 75 to 90 cm
long, and have a deep, heavy shell, which is frequently stained by exposure to anoxic
sediment (Fisher 1990). Nothing is known of the growth rates, but deep-sea bivalves are
typically long-lived. Accumulations of dead shells with clusters of live individuals
suggest persistent occupation of active seep sites (Rosman et al. 1987; Callender and
Powell 1997). These aggregations have been found on the flow-fields where expulsion of
oil-rich mud generates shallow anoxic layers (Lee 1995).
Lucinid Clams
These are probably the most widely-distributed chemosynthetic invertebrates in the Gulf
of Mexico (Powell etal. 1998). However, due to an infaunal habit, living adults are
almost never seen in photo-surveys (MacDonald and Schroeder 1993), whereas
accumulations of dead shells are common in and near seeps (Callender and Powell 1992).
As with the vesicomyids, information on life-history comes primarily from work done
outside the Gulf of Mexico. These animals live in deep, U-shaped burrows and
manipulate the oxygen tension in their burrows by moving up and down in the passage to
the surface (Fisher 1990). Common species in the Gulf of Mexico are Lucinorna atlantis
and Thiasira oleophila (Callender and Powell 1997). The chalky shells are subcircular,
shallow, and have a small but distinct beak at the hinge. Symbionts live in enlarged gills
and utilize H2S (Dando et al. 1986). The stable carbon isotope signatures of L. atlantis
are the best data supporting a chemoautotrophic nutritional source (Brooks et al. 1987).
Growth rates and life-spans are unknown, although Powell et al. (1998) believe lucinids
to be slow-growing.
Polychacte "Ice Worms"
This polychaete, Hesiocaeca methanicola, received attention in the press following its
discovery in 1997, but relatively little is published about its life history or ecology
(Desbruyeres and Toulmond 1998). The worm inhabits shallow burrows on the surface
216
Figure 8.3. Photographs of the two types of trails observed in the aggregations of vesicomyids (Figure 3
from Rosman et al. 1987). The upper frame shows a vesicomyid in characteristic plowing
position and its vee-shaped, curving trail. The lower frame shows the faint surface trails
formed by a second trail-making organism that occurred in the aggregations (arrows). Only
trails similar to those in the upper frame were included in the analyses.
217
of shallow gas hydrate deposits. It does not possess chernosynthetic symbionts, but the
stable carbon isotope ratios of its tissue are consistent with a diet derived from
chemosynthetic production (Fisher et al., in press).
Beggiatoa Mats and Other Protozoans
Colonies of the free-living autotrophic bacteria Beggiatoa are found on reducing

sediments in freshwater and marine environments (Nelson et al. 1986). The cells are
vacuolated and inhabit large filaments (Larkin and Strobi 1983). Cell vacuoles function
as storage compartments for nitrate; functionally, Beggiatoa migrate vertically between
the sediment-water interface and as deep as 10 cm into anoxic sediments, using nitrate as
an electron acceptor for the oxidation of hydrogen sulfide (McHatton et al. 1996). At
Gulf of Mexico hydrocarbon seeps, Beggiatoa form mat-like colonies that extend for
several meters in some cases (MacDonald et al. 1989; Larkin et al. 1994). Zonation in
the mats is closely linked to sediment geochemistry, with orange and white mats
overlying sediments with high concentrations of hydrocarbon gases and extractable liquid
hydrocarbons (Sassen et al. 1993b, 1994). Nikolaus (1995) found two color phases in the
Beggiatoa mats from Gulf of Mexico seeps. A white form was characterized by high
activities of the enzyme RUBP-carboxylase, an indicator of Calvin cycle functions that
implies autotrophic carbon fixation. A pigmented fonn did not test positive for
RUBP-carboxylase, which Nikolaus interpreted as a possible indication of heterotrophic
function in these colonies. Unusually high abundance of benthic Forarninifera were seen
in samples of sediment from beneath Beggiatoa mats (Sen Gupta and Aharon 1994).
LaRock et al. (1994) report high productivity in bacterioplankton in bottom waters at
hydrocarbon seeps.
ileterotrophic Fauna
A succinct description of the heterotrophic fauna found at a "typical" oil seep can be
found in MacDonald et al. (1989) and is quoted in full below with updated taxonomic
designations indicated in square brackets.
"A diverse assemblage of common slope fauna was recorded in the still
photographs and the video tapes [from Bush Hill]. Bathypelagic organisms
included tunicates, squid and trichiurid fishes. The fish Hoplostethus sp. was
frequently seen hovering over the tube worm clusters. Other fishes (including
Chaunaxpicius, Urophycis cirratus and Peristedion greyae) were frequently
observed swimming near or resting on the bottom. Crustaceans included decapod
crabs (Geryon sp. [Chaceon], Bathyplax typhia and Rochinia crassa), shrimp and
the giant isopod Bathynomus giganteus."
"Epifaunal organisms were observed on the tube worms and mussels. The
bivalve Acesta bullisi (R. D. Turner, pers. comm; Boland 1986) was commonly
attached to the ends of the tubes of Lamellibrachia sp. Examination of
photographs and collected specimens showed that the tubes were inserted through
a concave process in the posterior margin of the A. bullisi shells, and that the
218
obturacular plumes of the Lamellibrachia sp. were extended within the mantle
cavity of the bivalves.... Several photographs showed a galatheid crab,
Munidopsis n. sp. (L. Pequegnat, pers. comm.), clinging to the ends of the tubes
of the escarpiid. Other tubes of both species were encrusted with hydroids and
sponges. Epifauna on the mussels included nerite gastropods {Cataegis cf
merloglypta] (E. N. Powell, pers. comm), an undescribed caridian shrimp,
Alvinocaris n.sp. stactophila] (A. Williams, pers. comm.) and the crab
Benthoschascon schmitti. The hag fish, Eptatretus sp., was observed at rest in
several mussel beds."
Types of Seep Communities in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

Roberts and Carney (1997) distinguish among slowly seeping oil and gas seeps, rapid,
mud-prone expulsion features (mud volcanoes), and quiescent, mineral-prone seeps.
Reilly et al. (1996) categorizes complex communities, which comprise a mixture of tube
worms and seep mussels, and simple communities, which consist of a single species
usually seep mussels or vesicomyid clams. MacDonald (1998a) and MacDonald et al. (in
press) identify brine-pooling and sediment diffusion habitats, noting that so-called simple
and complex communities can occur in close proximity. At slow oil and gas seeps, fluids
migrate to the seafloor from deep (3,000 to 5,000 m subbottom) reservoirs that are
broadly distributed across the continental slope. Near the seafloor is a layer of
unconsolidated hemipelagic sediment that is several hundred meters thick. The upper
sediment column diffuses and retains oil and gas over areas considerably larger than the
fault axis (Reilly et al. 1996). In the upper meter or so of the sediments, microbial
degradation of the labile carbon in the oil and gas depletes available oxygen and reduces
seawater sulfate to H2S. This provides chemosynthetic substrates for invertebrates with
sulfide oxidizing symbionts, notably vestimentiferan tube worms. Increased alkalinity
due to microbial productivity causes extensive precipitation of carbonate. Accumulating
fluid and carbonate produces low mounds with basal diameters of 10 m to over 500 m
and slopes of 10% or greater. At localized vents, methane bubbles through near-bottom
waters and generates sufficient local concentrations to support seep mussels. Gas
hydrates form where free gas is trapped beneath layers of rock or other shallow
obstructions. The result is often a patchwork of tube worm clusters and carbonate
boulders extending over the surface of the seep, with the greatest concentrations along
fault axes.
At mud volcanoes (Neurauter and Roberts 1994), formation of chemosynthetic

communities is controlled by the intensity and frequency of mud discharge (Roberts et al.
1990). Rapid fluid flux often includes abundant hydrocarbons, but burial of
slow-growing fauna will limit community formation at active sites. Because the fluid
flux is associated with shallow salt in most cases, halite dissolution produces
concentrated brines and the increased density of these briny fluids tends to create pools or
channels with distinct, stable interfaces (MacDonald et al. 1 990a, b). Seep mussels can
colonize the stable edges of mud-filled craters or channels. Repeated burial over
thousands of years of activity is indicated by recovery of mussels shells in cores taken at
mudprone sites (MacDonald et al. 1995).
219
Mineral-prone seeps occur with decreased rates of venting and formation of surface
domes capped with lithified layers. Lithified surface layers and crusts represent the
terminal phase of seeps regardless of whether the active seepage mode was slow, oil and
gas driven, or rapid and mud prone (Lee 1995; Sager et al. 1999). Lithification greatly
reduces sediment porosity and limits seepage to faults and fissures in the crust. Layers of
bivalve shell may remain over large areas for many years after most seepage and all
chemosynthetic production has ceased.
Dependence upon seeping hydrocarbons places Gulf of Mexico chemosynthetic fauna in

a deep-sea locality that may be affected by human activities (MMS 1988, 1992). The
offshore energy industry has experienced several expansive episodes in the past 20 years.
All of these have increased activities at ever greater depths. The amount of seafloor
influenced by seepage is quite small compared to the extent of the subbottom
hydrocarbon system and industry engineers generally strive to avoid the unstable
substrate at seeps (Reilly et al. 1996). Current interest lies in improving the capacity to
predict where seep communities will occur and in understanding processes that contribute
to either stability or change in this environment so that anthropogenic changes could be
distinguished from natural processes. Type cases of "typical" chemosynthetic
communities are given below.
Bush Hill
The "Bush Hill" site (27°47' N, 91°30.4' W) described by MacDonald et al. (1989) was
the first hydrocarbon seep community to be sampled from a submersible. Reilly et al.
(1996) describe it as the type-example of a complex chemosynthetic community. The
Conoco tension leg work platform (TLWP) was installed <2 km west southwest from the
mound and began producing oil in the late 1980's. The major seep area is a 300 m-EW
by 500 m-NS mound with a crest depth of 570 m, rising about 40 m above the
surrounding seafloor, and composed of mud, carbonate, and shallow gas hydrate. The
N-S axis of the mound is situated along the surface trace of a westdipping fault that is
the conduit by which oil and gas reaches the surface from deposits located at
approximately 1,200 m subbottom depth. Surface sediments contain, by weight, up to
10% liquid hydrocarbons, which Kennicutt et al. (1 988b) described as having fingerprints
identical to oil produced by the TLWP wells. However, reservoirs tapped by TLWP
wells were located at subbottom depths of 3,000 m or greater by Cook and D'Onfto
(1991), who suggest that the field comprises a complex of many reservoirs, charged from
a common source, but seeping only from the shallowest strata. Sulfide concentrations in
shallow sediments (<10 cm) associated with tube worm clusters have been measured in
the 100 to 250 iM range with use of micro-electrode technique (Escorcia et al. 1999).
Methane concentrations in near-bottom waters are 30 to 60 jtM in the vicinity of active
gas vents and below 1 iM elsewhere (MacDonald et al. 1989; Nix et al. 1995). Shallow
gas hydrates have been recovered by coring at Bush Hill (Brooks et al. 1986). Layers of
gas hydrate breach the sediment layer near the highest point of the mound (MacDonald et
al. 1 994a). Tube worm clusters extend over much of the mound crest while mussels are
confined to the active gas vents.
220
Brine Pool NR1
The focus of this chemosynthetic community is a small (190 m2) pool of brine (salinity
121.35) found near 27°43.4'N and 91°16.5'W at a water depth of 650 m (MacDonald et
al. 1 990b). Brine fills a crater at the center of a -1 00 m wide mound. The mound rises
about 6 m above the surrounding seafloor, but the crater and its diatreme extend at least
30 m below the surface. The brine contains microbial methane (S13C -63.8) in
concentrations that are supersaturated at standard temperature and pressure. Streams of
CH4 bubbles emanate continually from the center of the pool. The pooi is ringed by a
large (540 m2) bed of seep mussels (MacDonald and Fisher 1996). Mussels settled on the
"shoreline" of the pool include numerous juveniles, whereas the periphery of the bed
comprised a single settlement class without juveniles. Sulfide levels are below levels of
detection in the pool, but rise sharply in fluids collected beneath the surrounding mussel
bed (Fisher, personal communication). The bed of seep mussels comprises a striking
example of a mono-specific aggregation of chemosynthetic fauna, but numerous other
species of heterotrophic animals are also commonly observed at the site (MacDonald
1992; MacDonald and Fisher 1996). Recent findings challenge the Reilly et al. (1996)
designation that this Brine Pool NR1 is a "simple" community because small, but
significant clusters of vestimentiferans are known to occur to the south of the pool
(MacDonald et al., in press).
Garden Banks 386
Located at 580 m water depths near 27°36.9'N and 92°l5.5'W, this flat-topped mound is
described as a mud volcano by Reilly et al. (1996), but active seepage in the form of gas
venting and mud or fluid discharge does not occur over the mound (Reilly et al. 1996;
Sager et al. 1999). A rubble-strewn crust of authigenic carbonate extends over the entire
600 m wide area of the upper mound. Bivalve shells are common, but no living seep
mussels or clams have been recovered from the site and tube worms are restricted to
stunted individuals lining small fractures in the rocky substratum (MacDonald et al.
1995). Because active mud volcanoes similar of similar morphology are common in the
region, and because of the accumulation of dead bivalve shells, one can surmise that this
site was previously more active in terms of fluid expulsion and biological productivity.
Mineral-prone seeps probably do not generally represent aggregations of biological
activity requiring extensive protection. It would require careful study, however, to
distinguish a mineral-prone, relatively inactive seep and biological assemblage like the
mound in Garden Bauks 386 from more active features.
221
Alaminos Canyon
Chemosynthetic communities at this site comprise at least six aggregations of seep
mussels (B. brooks'i) and tube worms (Lamellibrachia and Escarpia) distributed along the
northeastern wall of a submarine canyon in water depths of 2,250 m (Brooks 1990;
Brooks et al. 1990). The largest aggregation, dubbed Neptune's Garden, is located near
26° 21 'N and 94° 21' W. The mussels occupy beds as large as 10 m2 on a rocky
substratum (Fisher et aL 1992; MacDonald et al. 1 994b). Elevated salinity observed in
water samples indicates possible brine seepage at the site. Hydrocarbon seepage has been
documented in piston core samples from the region (MacDonald and Schroeder 1993).
Distribution of Seep Communities in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

Seeps and chemosynthetic communities can be detected with seismic survey methods by
looking for migration conduitsalso called seismic wipe-outs--that coincide with
surface mounds and low-angle faults (Reilly et al. 1996; Roberts and Carney 1997).
Side-scan sonar has also shown promise and may be more cost-effective in some
applications (Sager and MacDonald 1998). As the discussion above indicates, the timing
of migration and seepage is not necessarily predicted by structures that are detected with
seismic data. The geochemistry of hydrocarbon seeps has been thoroughly described
(Anderson et al. 1983; Brooks et al. 1984, 1986; Kenriicutt et al. 1987, 1988a) and will
reliably predict regional occurrence of chemosynthetic communities for at least the
so-called lush" communities of most concern for management (MMS 1988). However,
brine-pooling communities like Brine Pool NR1 are not always associated with
thermogenic hydrocarbons in the surface sediments. Submersible and photo-surveys
have been executed haphazardly and with a definite bias toward sites <1,000 m depth,
this due to the cost and depth limitations of available submersibles. Surveys of
chernosynthetic communities need to be evaluated critically, therefore, with an eye to the
underlying limits of the data and the motivating goals of the survey. The following
briefly summarizes different evidence for the regional distribution of chemosynthetic
communities in the Gulf of Mexico.
Sassen et al. (1993 a) demonstrated that, where data permit comparison, most major oil
fields in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico are associated with chemosynthetic communities.
Recent exploration and production have not been thoroughly documented by submersible
observations and there is some question about community development in water depths
between 1,000 and 2,000 m where data are lacking (MacDonald 1 998b). However, these
authors and other authors (Abrams 1996; Kaluza and Doyle 1996) note that salt tectonism
generates migration conduits across the entire Gulf of Mexico slope. All hydrocarbon
fields are therefore highly susceptible to leakage. A map of oil discovery and production
should, therefore predict the general localities where chemosynthetic communities might
be found. First-hand observations are required to confirm community occurrence at
scales of 1 km or less. Table 8.2, reproduced from MacDonald et al. (1996), compiles.
direct observations of chemosynthetic communities in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
222
MacDonald:Seep Communities
Table 8.2. Sites where chemosyiithetic megafauna have been collected by trawl (Tn) or
submarine (Sub), or definitively photographed by submarine, remotely operated
vehicle (ROy), or photosled (Photos!). Fauna indicates type of chemosynthetic
megafauna found at site: Vvestimentiferan tube worms, M=seep mytilids,
C=vesicomyid or lucinid clams, PG=pogonophoran tube worms. Lease block
designators follow MMS standard abbreviations. Data sources give precedence to
observations published in open literature.
Fauna Latitude Longitude MMS Depth Observation Data
(North) (West) Lease Block (m) Method source
V,M 26°21.20' 94°29.80' AC0645 2200 Sub
M 27°23 .50' 94°29.45' EB0602 1111 Tn! 2
P,G 27°27.55' 93°08.60' GBO5 00 734 Trl 2
v,c 27°30.05' 93°02.0 1' GB0458 757 TrI 2
M 27°3 1.50' 92010.50 GB0476 750 Sub 3
M,C 27°33.40' 92°32.40' GB0424 570 Sub 3
V 27°35.00' 92°30.00' GB0425 600 Sub 3
v,c 27°34.50' 92°5 5.95' 080416 580 Sub 3
v,c 27°36.0O' 94°46.00' EBO3 76 776 Sub 3
P,G 27°36.15' 94°35,40' EB0380 793 Trl 2
M,C 27°36.50' 92°28.94' GB0382 570 Sub 3
v,c 27°36.60' 94047 35' EB0375 773 Trl 2
v,c 27°36.82' 92° 15.25' GBO3 86 585 Sub, Tn 2, 3
V,c 27°3 7.15' 92°14.40' GB0387 781 Sub, Tn! 2, 3
V 27°37.75' 91°49.15' GCO31O 780 Tn 2
v'c 27°38.00' 92° 17.50' GB0342 425 Tn 2
C 27°39.15' 94°24.30' EB0339 780 Trl 2
V,c 27°39.60' 90°48.90' GCO287 994 Sub, Tn 2
C 27°40.45' 90°29. 10' GCO293 1042 Trl 2
v,c 27°40.50' 92° 18.00' GB 0297 589 Trl 2
V,M,C 27°40.88' 91°32.10' GCO272 720 Sub, Trl 2,3,4
V,c 27°42.65' 92° 10.45' GBO300 719 Trl 2
V 27°43.l0' 9103 0. 15 GCO229 825 Trl 2
V,M 27°43 .30' 91° 16.3 0' GCO233 650 Sub 5
V,M,C 27°43 .70' 91° 17.55' GCO233 813 Tn 2
V,M 27°44.08' 9 1° 15 .27' GCO234 600 Sub 3, 6
V,M 27°44.30' 91° 19. 10' GCO232 807 Sub 3
V,M 27°44.80' 9 1° 13 .3 0' GCO234 550 Sub 3, 7
v'c 27°45.00' 90°16.3 1' GCO2 10 715 Sub 3
C 27°45.50' 89°58.30' GCO2 16 963 Sub, Photosl 8,2
V,M,C 27°46.33' 90° 15.00' GCO2 10 796 Sub 3
V,M 27°46.65' 91°30.35' GC0184/5 580 Sub, Trl 2,3,9
V,M 27°46.75' 90° 14.70' GCO 166 767 Sub, Trl 2, 3
V,M 27°49. 16' 91°3 1.95' GCO 140 290 Sub 10
V 27°50.00' 90° 19.00' GCO 121 767 Sub 3
V,M 27°53 .56' 90°07.07' GCOO81 682 Photosl 11
V,c 27°54.40' 90°1 1.90' GC0079 685 TrI 2
V,M 27°55.50' 90°27.50' GC003O 504 Sub 3
V,P,G 27°56.65' 89°58.05' GCOO4O 685 Tn 2
C 27°57.10' 89°54.30' MC0969 658 Trl 2
V 27°57.25' 89°57.5 0' EW 1010 597 Sub, Tn 2, 3
V 27°58.70' 90°23 .40' EW 1001 430 Sub, Tn 2, 3
v,c 29°1 1.00' 88°00.00' VK0826 545 Sub, ROV, Trl 3, 4, 12
Data sources: 1-Brooks et al. (1989), 2-Kennicutt et al. (1988a,b), 3-GERG unpubL data, 4-Callender arid Powell
(1992), 5-MacDonald et al. (1990b), 6-MacDonald et al. (1990a), 7-MacDonald et at. (1990a), 8-Rosman et al.
(1987), 9-MacDonald et at, (1989), 10-Roberts et al. (1990), 1 1-Bola.nd (1986), 12-Boss (1968), Gallaway et al.
(1990), Volkes (1963).
223
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230
Chapter 9: Protected Species
Stephen T. Viada
Introduction 231
Cetaceans 232
Listed Species Accounts 232
Nonlisted Species Accounts 235
Sea Turtles 243
Species Accounts 244
Sensitivity to Oil and Gas Exploration and Development 247
Introduction
Protected species that may occur within oceanic waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico
(defined as the continental slope and abyssal regions) include 28 marine mammals and
5 sea turtles. All marine mammals are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection
Act of 1972. Certain marine mammals and all sea turtles are also "listed species"; that is,
they are classified as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act of
1973.
This chapter discusses only those species of marine mammals and turtles that have been
reported from the deepwater Gulf of Mexico or whose known ranges may include these
waters. Other protected species occur in the Gulf of Mexico, but primarily in coastal or
continental shelf waters, or within adjacent waters of the western Atlantic Ocean or
Caribbean Sea. For example, the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus), which
consists of two subspecies, the Florida manatee (T. m. latirostris) and the Antillean
manatee (T. m. manatus), may be found in the northern Gulf of Mexico but inhabits only
coastal marine, brackish, and freshwater habitats (Reeves et al. 1992; Jefferson et al.
1993; O'Shea et al. 1995). Similarly, the Gulf sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotol) is
an anadromous fish that also inhabits coastal marine (including inner continental shelf),
brackish, and freshwater habitats of the central and eastern Gulf of Mexico (Gilbert 1992;
Mettee et al. 1996). The roseate tern (Sterna dougallii) is a seabird that commonly
ventures into oceanic waters; however, its western Atlantic population is known to only
approach the far southeastern Gulf to breed in scattered colonies along the Florida Keys.
The Bermuda petrel (Pterodroma cahow) is a pelagic seabird that is limited to oceanic
waters of the northwestern Atlantic and breeds in small colonies on Bermuda. The brown
pelican (Pelicanus occidentalis) is commonly found in the northern Gulf of Mexico but
occurs only within coastal habitats and waters of the inner continental shelf (Clapp et al.
l982a,b; Harrison 1983; Warbam 1990; Olsen and Larsson 1995; Harrison 1996; Olsen
and Larsson 1997; National Geographic Society 1999).
231
V/ada: Protected Spec/es
Cetaceans
Whales and dolphins are members of the mammalian taxonomic order Cetacea, which
includes two suborders: Mysticeti (baleen whales) and Odontoceti (toothed whales, and
dolphins and their allies). Twenty-eight species of cetaceans comprising 7 mysticete
whales and 21 odoritocete whales and dolphins are known to occur in the Gulf of Mexico
(Table 9.1) (Davis et al. 2000; Jefferson et al. 1992).
Listed Species Accounts
Five mysticetes (the northern right, blue, fin, sei, and humpback whales) and one
odontocete (the sperm whale) that occur or have been reported in the Gulf of Mexico are
listed as endangered species. The sperm whale is the only endangered species that is
considered to be common and perhaps a resident species in certain deepwater areas of the
Gulf (Davis et al. 2000). Listed mysticetes do not normally enter the Gulf with any
regularity (Jefferson 1995; Davis and Fargion 1996). Sightings of these species in the
Gulf are rare or uncommon, and are believed to be in most cases representative of
extralimital strays from their normal ranges in the western Atlantic Ocean where they
may inhabit both deepwater habitats and waters of the continental shelf (Wursig et al.
2000). Consequently, there are insufficient sightings records to estimate numbers of
individuals or stocks" of mysticetes in the Gulf (Jefferson 1995). Brief species
accounts of the listed cetaceans are presented below.
Mysticetes
The northern right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) primarily inhabits temperate and
subarctic coastal and continental shelf waters. The western North Atlantic population, or
stock, ranges between the Maritime Provinces of eastern Canada to northeastern Florida.
Right whales forage primarily on subsurface and localized concentrations of zooplankton
such as calanoid copepods (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983; Jefferson et al. 1993; Perry et
al. 1999). Sparse, historical sightings and strandings records (one confirmed sighting
from Florida and one confirmed stranding from Texas) suggest that this species is not a
normal inhabitant of the Gulf of Mexico. The sightings records that do exist are
considered to be those of extralimital strays from their wintering grounds off the
southeastern United States (Jefferson 1995; Jefferson and Schiro 1997; Wilrsig et al.
2000).
The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is an oceanic species that may move into
selected habitats on the continental shelf to feed. Blue whales are distributed from the
equator to polar regions of both hemispheres. Blue whales feed almost exclusively on
localized concentrations of zooplankton, primarily euphausiid crustaceans (k.riJl)
(Yochem and Leatherwood 1985; Jefferson et al. 1993; Perry et al. 1999). Their presence
in the Gulf of Mexico is considered to be very rare, as sighting records consist of two
stranded individuals on the Texas coast and two nonconfirnied sightings (Jefferson and
Schiro 1997; WUrsig et aL 2000).
232
Viada: Protected Species
Table 9.1. Cetaceans of the Gulf of Mexico
Scientific Name Common Name Status'
SUBORDER MYSTICETI BALEEN WHALES

Family Balaenidae Right whales
Eubalaena glacialis Northern right whale E, S
Family Balaenopteridae Rorquals
Balaenoptera musculus Blue whale E, S
Balaenoptera edeni Bryde's whale None
Balaenopteraphysalus Fin whale E, S
Megaptera novaeangliae Humpback whale E, S
Balaenoptera acutorostrata Minke whale None
Balaenoptera borealis Sei whale E, S
SUBORDER ODONTOCETI TOOTHED WHALES AND DOLPHINS
Family Physeteridae Sperm whales
Kogia sinms Dwarf sperm whale None
Kogia breviceps Pygmy sperm whale None
Physeter niacrocephalus Sperm whale E, S
Family Ziphiidae Beaked whales
Mesoplodon densirostris Blainville's beaked whale S
Ziphius cavirostris CuvierTs beaked whale S
Mesoplodon europaeus Gervais' beaked whale S
Mesoplodon bidens Sowerby's beaked whale S
Family Delphinidae Dolphins (Delphinids)
Stenella frontal/s Atlantic spotted dolphin None
Tursiops truncatus Bottlenose dolphin None
Stenella clymene Clymene dolphin None
Pseudorca crass/dens False killer whale None
Lagenodelphis hosei Fraser's dolphin None
Orcinus orca Killer whale None
Peponocephala electra Melon-headed whale None
Stenella attenuata Pantropical spotted dolphin None
Feresa attenuata Pygmy killer whale None
Glob icephala inacrorhynchus Shortfinned pilot whale S
Grampus griseus RissoTs dolphin None
Steno bredanensis Rough-toothed dolphin None
Stenella longirostris Spinner dolphin None
Stenella coeruleoalba Striped dolphin None
a
Status: E = endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973; S = strategic stock under
the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as indicated by Waring et al. (1999).
233
The fin whale (Balaenopteraphysalus) is also an oceanic species of both hemispheres,

and may be found from the tropics to polar zones. They are sighted near the coast in
certain areas where deep water approaches the coast. Fin whales feed on localized
concentrations of zooplankton, fishes, and squid. The predominant prey of fin whales
varies greatly in different geographic locales, based on what is locally abundant
(Leatherwood and Reeves 1983; Jefferson et al. 1993; Perry et al. 1999). There are seven
reliable sightings and four unreliable sighting reports of fin whales from the Gulf of
Medco. From these data, they are not considered to be abundant in the Gulf. Sighted
individuals may be extralimital strays from their western Atlantic population or, less
likely, a small, resident, and relict population (Jefferson and Schiro 1997; WUrsig et al.
2000).
The humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae) feeds and breeds in coastal waters, and
migrates across oceanic waters from breeding areas in the tropics to polar or sub-polar
regions. Humpback whales feed on localized concentrations of zooplankton, fishes, and
squid (Winn and Reichley 1985; Jefferson et al. 1993; Perry et al. 1999). There are seven
reliable sightings and two unreliable sightings reports of generally small, humpback
whales from the Gulf of Mexico. The time of the year of the records suggest that these
individuals may be extralimital strays during their breeding season or during their
migrations, and their small body sizes suggest that they may be inexperienced yearlings
on their first return migration (Jefferson and Schiro 1997; Wtirsig et al. 2000).
The sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) is an oceanic species that is not commonly sighted
near the coast. They occur from the tropics to polar zones in both hemispheres, but
appear to be more common in mid-latitude temperate zones. Sei whales feed on localized
concentrations of zooplankton, small fishes, and squid (Gambell 1985; Jefferson et al.
1993). Sparse sightings data in the Gulf of Mexico, consisting of one questionable
sighting and three strandings from eastern Louisiana, suggest that their presence there is
rare, or of accidental occurrence (Jefferson and Schiro 1997).
Odontocetes
The sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) is the largest toothed whale and is distributed
from the tropics to polar zones in both hemispheres. They are deep diving mammals and
inhabit oceanic waters, although they may come close to shore in certain areas where
deep water approaches the coast. Their distribution varies by gender and age
composition. Mature females, and calves and immature whales of both sexes are found
in social groups in temperate and tropical waters. Mature males are mostly solitary, and
may travel into polar seas as high as 70° N or 700 S (Perry et al. 1999). Sperm whales are
known to feed on cephalopods, demersal fishes, and benthic invertebrates (Rice 1989;
Jefferson et al. 1993; Perry et al. 1999). The sperm whale is the only great whale that is
considered to be common in the Gulf of Mexico (Jefferson 1995). Historical sightings
records suggest a Gulf-wide distribution, primarily on the continental slope. During
GulfCet I and II surveys, however, sperm whales on the slope were sighted almost
entirely in the north-central and northeastern Gulf in loose groups of two to eight
individuals (Davis and Fargion 1996; Davis et al. 1999). Congregations of sperm whales
234
are also common inhabitants of waters over the shelf edge in the vicinity of the
Mississippi River delta in water depths of 500 to 2,000 m. From these consistent
sightings it is believed that there is a resident population of sperm whales in the Gulf
consisting of adult females, calves, and immature individuals (Brandon and Fargion
1993; Mullin et al. 1994b; Sparks et al. 1996; Jefferson and Schiro 1997). Recent
minimum population estimates of sperm whales within the oceanic northern Gulf of
Mexico totaled 530 individuals from 1991-1994 surveys and 387 individuals from
1996-1997 surveys (Davis et al. 2000).
Nonlisted Species Accounts
Two nonlisted mysticete whales and 20 nonlisted odontocete whales and dolphins are
known to occur in the Gulf. Brief species accounts of these nonlisted cetaceans are
presented below.
Mysticetes
The Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera edeni) is the second smallest baleen whale and is
generally confined to tropical and subtropical waters (between 40°N and 40°S latitudes).
Unlike other baleen whales, it does not have a well-defmed breeding season in most areas
and thus calving may occur throughout the year. Resident populations may be common
in certain areas. Bryde's whales feed on both fishes and invertebrates (Leatherwood and
Reeves 1983; Cummings 1985; Jefferson et al. 1993). The Bryde's whale is represented
by more sightings records than any other species of baleen whale in the Gulf. All
Bryde's whale sightings made during recent surveys in the Gulf of Mexico were from the
continental shelf edge in the vicinity of De Soto Canyon and along the 100 m isobath in
the north-central Gulf. These data suggest that the Gulf may represent at least a portion
of the range of a dispersed, resident population of Bryde's whale (Davis and Fargion
1996; Jefferson and Schiro 1997; Davis et al. 2000; Wursig et al. 2000).
The minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) is the smallest baleen whale and is widely
distributed from tropical to polar habitats. Minke whales may be found in oceanic
regions but appear to prefer coastal waters and waters of the continental shelf. Their diet
consists of invertebrates and fishes (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983; Stewart and
Leatherwood 1985; Jefferson et al. 1993). There are 10 reliable records and 2
questionable records of minke whales in the Gulf. All of these are stranding records from
winter or spring. These records suggest that minke whales may migrate into Gulf waters
in small numbers during the winter or, more likely, that sighted individuals represent
strays from low-latitude breeding grounds in the western North Atlantic (Davis and
Fargion 1996; Jefferson and Schiro 1997; Davis et al, 2000; Wttrsig et al. 2000).
Odontocetes
Pygmy and Dwarf Sperm Whales. The pygmy spenri whale (Kogia breviceps) and its
congener, the dwarf sperm whale (K simus), are known from deep waters in tropical to
warm temperate zones (Jefferson and Schiro 1997). They appear to be most common on
235
the continental slope and along the shelf edge (Wflrsig et al. 2000). Little is known of
their natural history. Data collected from stomach contents of stranded individuals
suggest that these species feed on cephalopods, fishes, and crustaceans in deep water
(Leatherwood and Reeves 1983; Jefferson et al. 1993). Kogia spp. has been sighted
throughout the Gulf across a wide range of depths and bottom topographies, though they
may more commonly be associated with water mass fronts along the continental shelf
edge break and upper slope (Baumgartner 1995).
Beaked Whales. Two genera and four species of beaked whales are known to occur in
the Gulf of Mexico. These include three species in the genus Mesoplodon (Sowerby's
beaked whale {M bidens], Blainville's beaked whale [M densirostris], and Gervais'
beaked whale M europaeus]) and Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirosiris).
Generally, beaked whales appear to prefer deep water, though little is known of their
respective life histories. Stomach content analyses suggest that these whales feed
primarily on deepwater cephalopods, although they will also take fish and some benthic
invertebrates (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983; Jefferson et al. 1993). In the Gulf, beaked
whales have been sighted at depths between approximately 700 and 2,000 m. Cuvier's
beaked whale is probably the most common beaked whale in the Gulf (Davis and Fargion
1996; Jefferson and Schiro 1997; Davis et al. 2000; Wtirsig et al. 2000).
Deiphinid Whales and Dolphins All remaining species of nonendangered and

nonthreatened cetaceans found in the Gulf are members of the taxonomically diverse
family Delphinidae.
The Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenellafrontalis) is endemic to the Atlantic within tropical
to temperate waters. They feed on a wide variety of fishes and cephalopods. The
Atlantic spotted dolphin is the only other species of cetacean (other than the bottlenose
dolphin) that commonly occurs on the continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico (Brandon
and Fargion 1993; Jefferson and Schiro 1997). Current Gulf surveys sighted the Atlantic
spotted dolphin primarily on the continental shelf and shelf edge at depths less than
250 m, although with some individuals sighted along the slope at depths of up to 600 m
(Davis et al. 2000).
The botfienose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) is a common inhabitant of both continental

shelf and slope. They are opportunistic feeders of a wide array of prey items (Brandon
and Fargion 1993; Jefferson and Schiro 1997). Current data suggest genetically discrete,
inshore and offshore stocks, or populations of bottlenose dolphins. Interaction between
the two populations is thought to be minimal (Wtirsig et al. 2000). Bottlenose dolphins in
the Gulf are corrunonly sighted at depths less than approximately 1,200 m (Mullin et al.
1994b; Jefferson and Schiro 1997; Davis et al. 1999).
The Clymene dolphin (Stenella clymene) is endemic to the Atlantic, and found only in
tropical and subtropical waters. This species appears to feed on fishes and squid
(Leatherwood and Reeves 1983; Jefferson et al. 1993; Mullin et al. 1994a). They are not
considered to be rare in the Gulf, though current sightings have been made almost
236
exclusively to the west of the Mississippi River at depths of 600 to 3,000 m (Mullin et al.
1994a; Jefferson 1995; Jefferson and Schiro 1997; Wursig et aL 2000).
The false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) is found in tropical to warm temperate
zones in deep offshore waters. It feeds on primarily fish and cephalopods, although it has
been known to also feed on cetaceans (Jefferson et al. 1993; Leatherwood and Reeves
1983). In the Gulf, most sightings of false killer whales have occurred along the
continental slope, although some were sighted over the outer continental shelf (OCS) as
well (Davis arid Fargion 1996).
The Fraser's dolphin (Lagenodeiphis hosei) has a pantropical distribution in oceanic

waters and nearshore in areas where deep water approaches the coast. Fraser's dolphins
feed on fish, cephalopods, and crustaceans (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983; Jefferson et
al. 1993; Jefferson and Schiro 1997). In the Gulf, sightings of Fraser's dolphins have
occurred in the western part at depths of around 1,000 m (Davis and Fargion 1996;
Jefferson and Schiro 1997; Davis et al. 2000).
The killer whale (Orcinus orca) is probably the most cosmopolitan of all cetaceans and
can be found in almost any marine region in all oceans. Generally, they appear to prefer
nearshore, cold temperate to subpolar zones. Killer whales feed on marine mammals,
marine birds, fishes, sea turtles, and cephalopods (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983;
Jefferson et al. 1993). In the Gulf, most sightings of killer whales have been along the
continental slope, within a broad area of the north-central Gulf (Jefferson and Schiro
1997; O'Sullivan and Mullin 1997; Wtirsig et al. 2000).
The melon-headed whale (Peponocephala electra) is a deep-water, pantropical species.

It is known to feed on cephalopods and fishes (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983; Jefferson
et al. 1993; Mullin et al. 1994c; Jefferson and Schiro 1997). In the Gulf, the
melon-headed whale has been sighted in continental slope waters, west of the Mississippi
River (Davis and Fargion 1996; Jefferson and Schiro 1997; Davis et al. 2000; Wtirsig et
al. 2000).
The pantropical spotted dolphin (Stenella attenuata) is a tropical species known from the
Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. It is known to feed on epipelagic fishes and squid
(Jefferson et al. 1993; Leatherwood arid Reeves 1983). The pantropical spotted dolphin
is the most common and abundant cetacean on the slope and especially outer slope waters
of the Gulf at depths greater than 1,200 m (Brandon and Fargion 1993; Jefferson 1995;
Jefferson and Schiro 1997; Wursig et al. 2000).
The pygmy killer whale (Feresa attenuata) is apparently widely distributed in tropical
waters, though little is known of its biology. Its diet includes cephalopods and fishes,
though reports of attacks on other de!phinids are reported (Leatherwood and Reeves
1983; Jefferson et al. 1993). The pygmy killer whale does not appear to be commonly
found in the Gulf of Mexico. Sightings of this species in the Gulf have been at depths of
500 to 1,000 m (Davis and Fargion 1996; Jefferson and Schiro 1997; Davis et al. 2000;
Witrsig et al. 2000).
237
The short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) is found in warm temperate

to tropical waters of the world. Short-finned pilot whales feed primarily on squid and
fishes. In the Gulf, it is most commonly sighted along the mid- to upper-slope at depths
of 250 to 2,000 m and often in areas of steep bottom topography (Davis and Fargion
1996; Jefferson and Schiro 1997; Davis et al. 2000; Wtirsig et al. 2000).
The Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus) is a pantropical species that inhabits deep oceanic
and continental slope waters. Risso' s dolphins feed primarily on cephalopods and
secondarily crustaceans (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983; Jefferson et al. 1993;
Baumgartner 1995). In the Gulf, it occurs at depths of 150 to 2,000 m, especially in areas
along the upper continental slope (Baumgartner 1995). It is considered common in these
areas of the Gulf (Davis and Fargion 1996; Jefferson and Schiro 1997; Davis et al. 2000;
Wursig et al. 2000).
The rough-toothed dolphin (Steno bredanensis) is a circumiropical and subtropical

species. This species feeds on cephalopods and fishes (Leatherwood and Reeves 1983;
Jefferson et al. 1993). In the Gulf, they are sighted almost exclusively west of the
Mississippi at depths of 900 to 2,000 m, and occur year-round (Davis and Fargion 1996;
Jefferson and Schiro 1997).
The spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) is a pantropical species (Jefferson and Schiro
1997). They commonly associate with pantropical spotted dolphins. Spinner dolphins
appear to feed on fishes and squid. In the Gulf, most sightings of spinner dolphins have
been east of the Mississippi at depths of 500 to 1,800 m (Jefferson and Schiro 1997;
Davis et al. 2000; Wiirsig et al. 2000).
The striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) is primarily a tropical species, though it may
also range into temperate seas. Striped dolphins are known to feed on squid and fishes.
In the Gulf, they are found at depths of 600 to 2,000 m (Jefferson and Schiro 1997;
Wtirsig et al. 2000).
Distribution and Abundance in the Oceanic Northern Gulf of Mexico
Prior to 1989, most historical study programs designed to assess the distribution and
abundance of cetaceans within the Gulf of Mexico were conducted exclusively within
waters of the continental shelf. The first systematic surveys for cetaceans within
continental slope and abyssa! waters of the Gulf began in 1989. During this period,
systematic aerial surveys were conducted over selected survey blocks off Louisiana and
Mississippi by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (Mullin et al. 1991,
1 994b). Subsequent, shipboard surveys for cetaceans within a broad area of the oceanic
northern Gulf were conducted by NMFS in spring of 1990 and 1991 (Jefferson 1995).
These early study efforts provided the first data pertaining to the distribution and
abundance of oceanic cetaceans within the northern Gulf of Mexico but provided limited
information regarding geographic coverage (Mullin et al. 1991, 1994b) or variability in
seasonal distributions of cetacean populations (NMFS shipboard surveys) (Jefferson
238
ucatan
-
o
0
25
50
50
ioa
75
150
100 NAUTICAL MLLES
..
200 KILOMETERS
Figure 9.1. U.S. oceanic northern Gulf of Mexico as defined in the GulfCet II study (Davis et al. 2000).
1995). Texas A&M University began a series of extensive survey programs in 1992
within the OCS and continental slope waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico in an effort
to determine seasonal and geographic distributions, and habitat associations of cetacean,
sea turtle, and seabird populations. These programs, entitled GulfCet I and II, represent
the most recent and systematic survey efforts within the oceanic northern Gulf of Mexico
(Davis and Fargion 1996; Davis et al. 2000). Systematic shipboard and aerial surveys
were conducted within waters from 100 to 2,000 m west of 87°30.0W during the
GulfCet I program and east of 88°10.0'W during the GulfCet II program. In addition,
Gulf of Mexico waters within the U.S. EEZ greater than 100 m deep were surveyed by
ship during the GulfCet II program (Figure 9.1). From these surveys, at least 17 species
of cetaceans that typically inhabit deep, tropical waters were sighted throughout the
oceanic northern Gulf. Sighting rates of cetaceans within this area were, however,
approximately 80% greater east of 90.0°W longitude. Relative minimum abundance
estimates of cetaceans known to occur in the oceanic northern Gulf were calculated from
survey data collected during two survey periods (1991-1994 and 1996-1997) within the
"oceanic northern Gulf' survey area (see Figure 9.1) and are presented graphically in
Figure 9.2. Bottlenose dolphins were the most common species in terms of total
numbers of sightings in the oceanic northern Gulf. Pantropical and spinner dolphins were
the most abundant species, in terms of total numbers of individuals, and occurred in
fewer but much larger groups than bottlenose dolphins (Davis et al. 2000).
Davis et al. 2000 suggest that the spatial and temporal distribution and abundance of
cetaceans within the northern Gulf of Mexico may be strongly influenced by various
circulation patterns. These patterns are generally driven by river discharge, wind stress,
arid the Loop Current. The maj or river system in this area is the Mississippi-Atchafalaya
River (approximately 30% of the Mississippi discharge is diverted upriver into the
Atchafalaya River). Most of the river discharge into the northern Gulf is transported to
the west arid along the coast. Circulation on the continental shelf is largely wind-driven,
with localized effects from freshwater (i.e., river) discharge. Beyond the shelf, mesoscale
circulation is largely driven by the Loop Current in the eastern Gulf. Meanders of the
Loop Current create warm-core anticyclonic eddies (anticyclones) once or twice annually
that migrate westward. The anticyclones in turn spawn cold-core cyclonic eddies
(cyclones). Together, anticyclones and cyclones govern the circulation of the continental
slope in the central and western Gulf (see Chapter 4). The Loop Current and anticyclones
are dynamic features which transport large quantities of high-salinity, nutrient-poor water
across the near-surface waters of the northern Gulf. Cyclones, in contrast, are dynamic
features which contain high concentrations of nutrients and stimulate localized
production. The combination of input of nutrients into the Gulf from river outflow and
mesoscale circulation features enhances productivity, and thus the abundance of cetacean
prey species such as fish and squid. The dynamics of these oceanographic features in
turn affect the spatial and temporal distribution of prey species and ultimately influence
cetacean diversity, abundance, and distribution (Mullin et al. 1994b; Davis et al. 1999).
Studies conducted during the GulfCet I program demonstrated correlations of the

distributions of cetaceans with certain geomorphic features such as bottom depth or
slope. These studies suggested that bottom depth was the most important variable in
240
Northern right whale *
Minke whale *
Sei whale *
Bryde's whale
Blue whale *
Fin whale *
Humpback whale *
Pygmy/Dwarf sperm whales
I I
Sperm whale
Mesoplodon spp. beaked whales *
Cuvier's beaked whale
Pygmy killer whale I
I
Short-finned pilot whale I I
Risso's dolphin 1
Fraser's dolphin
Killer whale
Melon-headed whale I I
False killer whale
I I
Pantropical spotted dolphin
I I
Rough-toothed dolphin I I
Clymene dolphin
I I
Striped dolphin
I I
Atlantic spotted dolphin --I
I I
Spinner dolphin
Bottlenose dolphin -
1991-1994
I 10 100 1,000 10,000 100,000
- 1996-1997
Species not sighted during these survey periods

Estimated Minimum Abundance
Figure 9.2. Minimum abundance estimates for species sighted within oceanic waters during two survey periods (From: Davis et al. 2000).
habitat partitioning among cetaceans in the Gulf, and stated that species in the northern
Gulf were differentiated most clearly with bottom depth (Baumgartner 1995; Davis and
Fargion 1996; Davis et al. 1998). For example, GulfCet I and II surveys, along with
other historical surveys and opportunistic sightings of cetaceans within the U.S. Gulf of
Mexico found that only the bottlenose dolphin and Atlantic spotted dolphin were
common inhabitants of the continental shelf. The remaining species of cetaceans known
to regularly occur in the Gulf (with possible exception of the Bryde's whale) were sighted
on the continental shelf edge and slope (Mullin et al. 1 994b; Jefferson 1995).
A major objective of the subsequent GulfCet II program was to correlate a number of

enviroimiental parameters, such as selected hydrographic features, with cetacean
sightings data in an effort to characterize cetacean habitats in the Gulf of Mexico (Davis
et al. 2000). From GulfCet II surveys, sightings of cetaceans along the slope were
generally concentrated in cyclones (cold core rings) where production (in this case,
measured chlorophyll concentration) was elevated. Sightings of these deepwater species
were much less frequent in water depths greater than 2,000 in and in anticyclones (warn
core rings). Sperm whales tended to occur along the mid-to-lower slope, near the mouth
of the Mississippi River and, in some areas, in cyclones and zones of confluence between
cyclones and anticyclones. From these data it was suggested that the greater densities of
cetaceans sighted along the continental slope, rather than abyssal areas, of the northern
Gulf probably result from localized conditions of enhanced productivity, especially along
the upper slope, and as a result of the collisions of mesoscale eddies with the continental
margin (Davis et al. 2000).
In the north-central Gulf, the relatively narrow continental shelf south of the Mississippi
River delta may be an additional factor affecting cetacean distribution, especially in the
case of sperm whales (Davis et al. 2000). Outflow from the Mississippi River mouth
transports large volumes of low salinity, nutrient-rich water southward across the
continental shelf and over the slope. River outflow may also be entrained within the
confluence of a cyclone-anticyclone eddy pair and transported beyond the continental
slope. In either case, this input of nutrient-rich water leads to a localized deep-water
environment with enhanced productivity and may explain the presence of a resident
population of sperm whales within 50 km of the Mississippi River delta in the vicinity of
the Mississippi Canyon.
Temporal variability in the distribution of cetaceans in the northern Gulf of Mexico may
also be primarily dependent upon the extent of river discharge and the presence and
dynamic nature of mesoscale hydrographic features such as cyclones. Consequently, the
distribution of cetacean species will change in response to the movement of prey species
associated with these hydrographic features. GulfCet I and II survey data determined that
most of the cetacean species that were routinely or commonly sighted in the northern
Gulf apparently occur in these waters throughout the year, although seasonal abundances
of certain species or species assemblages in slope waters may vary (Baumgartner 1995;
Davis and Fargion 1996; Davis et al. 1998, 2000). For example, comparisons of summer
and winter abundances of commonly sighted species from slope waters suggested that
dwarf/pygmy sperm whales and pantropical spotted dolphins may be more abundant
242
during summer, whereas Risso's dolphins may be more abundant during winter. In the
case of sperm whales, sightings data indicated that concentrations of whales would shift
spatially in association with the presence and dynamics of mesoscale features.
Concentrations of sperm whales were sighted near the mouth of the Mississippi River
during periods when this area was strongly cyclonic (late summer 1996). This
concentration of whales subsequently shifted 100 to 200 km due east over the De Soto
Canyon in mid-summer 1997 in response to a similar shift in the relative position of the
cyclone (Davis et al. 2000).
Sea Turtles
Five sea turtle species are known to inhabit the waters of the Gulf of Mexico (Table 9.2)
(Pritchard 1997). These are the loggerhead, green, hawksbill, Kemp's ridley, and
leatherback turtles.
As a group, sea turtles possess elongated, paddlelike forelimbs that are substantially
modified for swimming and shells that are depressed and streamlined (Marquez 1990;
Ernst et al. 1994; Pritchard 1997). They depend on the land only during the reproduction
period, when females emerge to nest on sandy beaches. They are long-lived and
slow-maturing. Generally, their distributions are primarily circumtropical, although the
various species differ widely in their seasonal cycles, geographical ranges, and behavior.
There are also considerable differences in behavior among populations of the same
species (Marquez 1990).
Most sea turtles (except perhaps the leatherback) exhibit differential distributions among
their various life stages (hatchling, juvenile, adult) (Marquez 1990; Hirth 1997; Musick
and Limpus 1997). After reaching the sea, hatchling turtles actively swim directly away
from the nesting beach until they encounter zones of water mass convergence and/or
sargassum rafts, which are rich in prey and provide shelter (NMFS and FWS 1991b;
Hirth 1997). Most then undergo a passive migration, drifting pelagically within
prevailing current systems such as oceanic gyres. After a period of years (the number of
which varies among species), the juveniles actively move into developmental habitats
within shallow waters of the inner continental shelf. When approaching maturity,
subadult juvenile turtles move into adult foraging habitats that, in some populations, are
geographically distinct from their juvenile developmental habitats (Musick and Limpus
1997).
All sea turtle species that inhabit the Gulf are listed as either endangered or threatened
species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Pritchard 1997). It is believed that
human activities are the cause of the collapse of sea turtle numbers. These activities
impact every stage of their life cycle and include the loss of nesting beach and foraging
habitats; harvesting of eggs and adults for consumption; incidental mortalities at sea
through pelagic and ground fishing practices; and harm or mortality from increasing
loads of nonbiodegradable waste and pollutants (Lutcavage et al. 1997).
243
Table 9.2. Sea turtles of the Gulf of Mexico
Scientific Name Common Name Statusa

Family Cheloniidae
Caretta caretta Loggerhead turtle T
Chelonia mydas Green turtle T!E'
Eretmochelys iinbricata Hawksb ill turtle B
Lepidochelys kempi Kemp's ridley turtle E
Family Dermochelyidae
Dermochelys coriacea Leatherback turtle E
a
Status: E endangered, T = threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
b
Green sea turtles are threatened except for Florida breeding populations, which are listed as endangered.
Species Accounts
The loggerhead (Caretta caretta) is a large sea turtle that inhabits the continental shelves
and estuaries of temperate and tropical environments of the Atlantic, Pacific, arid Indian
Oceans. Typically, this species wanders widely throughout the marine waters of its range
and is capable of living in varied environments for a relatively long time (Marquez 1990;
NMFS and FWS 1991b; Ernst et al. 1994). They may remain dormant during winter
months, buried in moderately deep, muddy bottoms (Marquez 1990). Loggerheads are
carnivorous and, though considered primarily predators of benthic invertebrates, are
facultative feeders over a wide range of food items (Ernst et al. 1994). Loggerheads are
considered to be the most abundant sea turtle in the Gulf of Mexico (Dodd 1988).
Loggerhead nesting along the Gulf Coast occurs primarily along the Florida panhandle,
although some scattered nesting has been reported along the Texas and Alabama coasts
as well (NMFS and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [EJSFWSJ 1991b). The loggerhead is
currently listed as a threatened species.
The green turtle (Chelonia mydas) is the largest hardshell turtle and considered to be a
circumglobal species. They are commonly found throughout the tropics and as stragglers
in a far more extensive area, generally between 40°N and 40°S latitudes (NIV]1FS and
USFWS 1991 a; Hirth 1997). In the continental United States, they are found from Texas
to Massachusetts. Green turtles are onmivorous; adults prefer feeding on plants but
juveniles and hatchlings are more carnivorous (Ernst et al. 1994; Hirth 1997). The adult
feeding habitats are beds or pastures of seagrasses and algae in relatively shallow,
protected waters; juveniles may forage in areas such as coral reefs, emergent rocky
bottom, sargassum mats, and in lagoons and bays. Movements between principal
foraging areas and nesting beaches can be extensive, with some populations regularly
carrying out transoceanic migrations (Hirth 1997; Ernst et al. 1994; NMFS and FWS
1991a). Green turtles occur in some numbers over grass beds along the south Texas coast
and the Florida Gulf coast. Reports of nesting along the Gulf of Mexico coast are
infrequent, and the closest significant nesting aggregations are along the Florida east
coast and the Yucatan Peninsula (NMIFS and USFWS 1991a). The green turtle is
currently listed internationally as a threatened species internationally and as an
endangered species in Florida.
244
The hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) is a small to medium-sized sea turtle that occurs
in tropical to subtropical seas of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. In the
continental United States, the hawksbill has been recorded in all the Gulf states and along
the Atlantic coast from Florida to Massachusetts, although sightings north of Florida are
rare. They are considered to be the most tropical of all sea turtles and the least conimonly
reported sea turtle in the Gulf of Mexico (Marquez 1990; Hildebrand 1995). Coral reefs
are generally recognized as the resident foraging habitat for juveniles and adults. Adult
hawksbills feed primarily on sponges and demonstrate a high degree of feeding
selectivity on a relatively limited number of sponge species (primarily demosponges)
(Ernst et al. 1994). Nesting within the continental United States is limited to southeastern
Florida and the Florida Keys. Juvenile hawksbills show evidence of residency on
specific foraging grounds, although some migrations may occur (NMFS and USFWS
1993). Some populations of adult hawksbills undertake reproductive migrations between
foraging grounds and nesting beaches (Marquez 1990; Ernst et al. 1994). The hawksbill
is presently listed as an endangered species.
The Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempi) is the smallest sea turtle. This species occurs
mainly in the Gulf of Mexico and along the northwestern Atlantic coast as far north as
Newf'oundlarid. Juveniles and adults are typically found in shallow areas with sandy or
muddy bottoms, especially in areas of seagrass habitat. Kemp's ridleys are carnivorous
and feed primarily on crabs, though they also feed on a wide variety of other prey items
as well (Marquez 1990; NMFS and USFWS 1992; Ernst et al. 1994). The major Kemp's
ridley nesting area is near Rancho Nuevo, along the northeastern coast of Mexico
(Tamaulipas). Some scattered nesting also has been reported in other areas of Mexico
and Texas, Colombia, Florida, and South Carolina (Ernst et al. 1994). Adult Kemp's
ridleys exhibit extensive internesting movements, but appear to travel relatively near the
coast, especially within shallow waters along the Louisiana coast. The Kemp's ridley is
currently listed as an endangered species.
The leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) is the largest and most distinctive living sea
turtle. This species possesses a unique skeletal morphology, most evident within its
flexible, ridged carapace, and in cold water maintains a core body temperature several
degrees above ambient. They also have unique deep diving abilities. This species is also
the most pelagic and most wide-ranging sea turtle, undertaking extensive migrations from
the tropics to boreal waters. Though considered pelagic, leatherbacks will occasionally
enter the shallow waters of bays and estuaries. Leatherbacks feed primarily on gelatinous
zooplankton such as jellyfish, siphonophores, and saips, though they may, perhaps
secondarily, ingest some algae and vertebrates (Ernst et al. 1994). Data from analyses of
leatherback stomach contents suggest that they may feed at the surface, nocturnally at
depth within deep scattering layers, or in benthic habitats. Florida is the only site in the
continental U.S. where the leatherback regularly nests (NMFS and USFWS 1992; Ernst
et al. 1994; Meylan et al. 1995). The leatherback is currently listed as an endangered
species.
245
Distribution and Abundance in the Oceanic Northern Gulf of Mexico

As in the case of cetaceans, most historical surveys on the distribution and abundance of
sea turtles within the Gulf of Mexico were conducted within coastal waters and on the
continental shelf In 1981, aerial surveys were conducted by the USFWS within
relatively small, widely separated blocks which encompassed continental shelf and
limited continental slope waters within the central and western Gulf (Fritts et al.
1 983a,b). In 1989, systematic aerial surveys were initiated within selected survey blocks
over the continental slope off Louisiana and Mississippi by NMFS (Mullin et al. 1991,
1 994b). Subsequent, shipboard surveys within a broad area of the oceanic northern Gulf
were conducted by NMFS in the springs of 1990 and 1991 (Jefferson 1995). These early
study efforts provided the first data pertaining to the distribution and abundance of sea
turtles within the OCS and oceanic waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico but provided
limited information regarding geographic coverage (Fritts et al. 1 983a,b; Mullin et al.
1991, 1 994b) or variability in seasonal distributions of sea turtles (NMFS shipboard
surveys) (Jefferson 1995). Systematic aerial and shipboard surveys conducted by Texas
A&M University during the GulfCet I and II programs represent the most recent
assessments of sea turtle distribution and abundance within the oceanic northern Gulf of
Mexico (Davis and Fargion 1996; Davis et al, 2000).
During the GulfCet I and II surveys, only two species of sea turtles were sighted within
the oceanic northern Gulf: loggerheads and leatherbacks (Davis et al. 2000). Other
species of chelonid sea turtles (all species other than the leatherback turtle) were not
sighted or identified on the slope during these surveys. However, because of the
extensive geographic ranges of these sea turtle species and their known migratory
movements between feeding and reproductive habitats, their absence in these survey data
does not preclude the possibility of their presence in these deepwater areas. In addition,
the presence and movements ofjuvenile turtles, especially Kemp's ridleys, within the
oceanic waters of the Gulf of Mexico remains unknown.
GulfCet I and II surveys found the abundance of sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico
significantly greater within the eastern Gulf; east of Mobile Bay (Lohoefener et al. 1990;
Davis et al. 2000). Sightings of loggerhead turtles were significantly higher on the
continental shelf than the slope. The overall abundance estimate of loggerheads from
GulfCet II surveys was 147 individuals. Loggerheads over the slope were about 12 times
more abundant in winter than summer. This difference was considered statistically
significant. There were also winter sightings of individual loggerheads over very deep
waters (>1,000 m). The significance of the oceanic Gulf to loggerheads was not
identified from these surveys, though it was suggested that they may traverse these waters
in order to reach distant foraging sites or to seek wanner waters during winter (Davis et
al. 2000). Historic sightings data suggest that leatherback turtles appear to spatially
utiflze both shelf and slope habitats in the Gulf of Mexico (Fritts et al. 1983a,b; Collard
1990; Davis and Fargion 1996). The overall abundance estimate of leatherbacks on the
slope from GulfCet II surveys was 168 individuals. Leatherback densities were about 2.5
times more abundant in summer than winter surveys, though this difference was not
considered statistically significant. Disjunct summer and winter distributions of
leatherbacks suggest that specific areas may be important to this species, either
246
seasonally or for short periods of time. For example, GulfCet I and II survey data show
that the region from Mississippi Canyon to De Soto Canyon, especially near the shelf
edge, may be an important habitat for this species. In addition, the high variability in the
relative numbers of individual leatherbacks sighted within specific areas, such as
concentrations of leatherbacks sighted during GulfCet I surveys, suggest that their
distributional patterns were irruptive in nature (Davis et al. 2000).
Sensitivity to Oil and Gas Exploration and Development

Maj or impact producing factors from deepwater oil and gas exploration and development
on marine mammals and sea turtles include degradation of water quality resulting from
operational discharges; noise from platforms, driliships, service vessels, helicopters, and
seismic surveys; oil spills and oil spill response activities; discarded debris from OCS
structures and service vessels; and collisions with service vessels. Sea turtles may be
attracted to fixed offshore petroleum platforms and consequently may be at greater risk of
impacts from OCS activities than marine mammals (Lohoefener et al. 1990).
The major operational discharges generated during offshore oil and gas exploration and
development include drilling fluids, cuttings, and produced waters. Many operational
discharges include components or compounds that may be injurious to marine mammals
and sea turtles. However, most waste fluids are treated prior to discharge, and plumes of
released wastes mix rapidly with ambient seawater and are thus diluted. These
discharged fluids may, however, have sublethal effects on marine mammals or sea turtles
either indirectly, as a result of their impacts on prey species (reduction in prey), or
possibly directly through prolonged exposure to the discharge or through the ingestion of
affected prey species (National Research Council 1983; American Petroleum Institute
1989; Kennicutt 1995).
Fixed production facilities and drillships, and OCS-related helicopter and service-vessel
traffic produce a broad array of sounds at frequencies and intensities that may be detected
by marine mammals and sea turtles (Geraci and St. Aubin 1987). These sounds could
directly and adversely affect cetaceans by physically injuring their hearing; producing
behavioral or physiological disturbances which may disrupt normal activities or lead to
short- or long-term displacement from areas which may be important for feeding or
reproduction; or masking their ability to utilize (i.e., receive) sounds produced for
echolocation or communication (Richardson et al. 1995). Sound may also disperse
potential cetacean prey species (National Research Cotmeil 1994). Studies involving
turtle hearing sensitivity or noise-induced stress are limited (Geraci and St. Aubin 1987).
Impacts related to OCS-related sounds on sea turtles may include behavioral disruption,
temporary or permanent displacement from the area near the sound source, and potential
long-term effects such as hearing loss.
Seismic activity may affect the distribution of marine mammals and sea turtles. During
the GulfCet I field surveys, it was noted that groups of sperm whales were displaced from
or moved away from an area for several days subsequent to the onset of a seismic survey
(Mate et al. 1994; Davis and Fargion 1996). These observations suggest that this group
247
V/ada: Protected Species
of sperm whales was temporarily displaced as a result of activities associated with the
seiinic survey. Acoustic surveys conduced during the GulfCet II program measured
pulsed signals from a seismic survey vessel. These data suggest that these low frequency
signals (2.5 kHz with little energy below 1 kHz) were probably audible to sperm whales
or mysticete whales in the area. In addition, acoustic and visual data were examined
from periods when seismic surveys were underway in an effort to detect whether these
seismic signals affected cetacean distribution. Results from these analyses suggested that
there were no significant differences between overall sighting rate (and distribution) and
sound level for cetaceans, including sperm whales (Davis et al. 2000). However, seismic
signals used during this study were measured from distant vessels and the received
seismic pulses were thus relatively low in intensity and frequency. Many cetaceans and
sea turtles habituate to low level background noise and coexist with human activities.
1-Jistorical records show the presence of sperm whales near the mouth of the Mississippi
over a period of many years. During this period, this area has been exposed to a variety
of sources of anthropogenic noise and recently is the site of intense oil and gas industry
activity and heavy seismic exploration. The continued presence of sperm whales near the
mouth of the Mississippi River suggest either tolerance or insensitivity to various sources
of anthropogenic noise in sperm whales (Davis et al. 2000).
OCS service helicopters and surface vessels can affect cetaceans and sea turtles from
machinery noise and/or visual disturbances (Richardson et al. 1995). The degree of
impacts associated with helicopter and service vessel traffic appear to be highly variable,
though transient, and cause short-term behavioral changes such as disruption of activities
or departure from the area of disturbance (Davis and Fargion 1996). Areas with heavy
vessel traffic may be avoided by cetaceans and sea turtles, although generally most
cetaceans exhibit considerable tolerance to ship and aircraft noise.
Spilled oil may affect marine mammals and sea turtles through various pathways: direct
contact; inhalation of oil or related volatile distillates; ingestion of oil (directly, or
indirectly through the consumption of oiled prey species); and impairnient of feeding by
fouling of baleen (in mysticetes) or ingestion of floating tar by turtles (Geraci 1990).
Studies have shown that direct contact of oil with sensitive tissues such as eyes and other
mucous membranes produce irritation and inflammation. Cetacean skin may also
experience irritation when exposed to oil or petroleum products such as fuels in high
concentrations or long exposure (Geraci and St. Aubin 1987). However, under less
extreme exposures (concentrations or durations) or contact, oil does not appear to readily
adhere to or be absorbed through cetacean skin. Cetacean skin may therefore serve
somewhat as a barrier to substances such a allergenic hydrocarbons in the marine
environment (Harvey and Dahiheim 1994). Nevertheless, cetaceans observed in or
within the proximity of surface oil associated with the Exxon Valdez spill showed no
evidence of avoidance or abnormal behavior when swimming near or within oil. Their
lack of response may then subject them to increased levels of exposure to spilled surface
oil (Harvey and Dahlheim 1994). Oil can adhere to turtle skin or shells; however, no
evidence of resultant tissue damage exists. Marine mammals or turtles surfacing within
or near an oil spill may inhale petroleum vapors. Small doses of oil, when aspirated,
have been shown to cause acute fatal pneumonia in mammals. Studies on effects of
248
petroleum vapors on tenestrial mammals and seals showed (in cases of prolonged
exposures and high concentrations) absorption of hydrocarbons in organs and other
tissues, and damage to the brain and central nervous system. However, short-term
inhalation of petroleum vapors at concentrations similar to those found in oceanic oil
spills may not be necessarily detrimental either in terms of structural tissue damage or
respiratory gas exchange. Sea turtles have shown apneic response when confronted with
disagreeable odors and may thus be able to minimize their exposure to inhaled petroleum
vapors. Ingested oil, particularly the lighter fractions, can be toxic to marine mammals
and sea turtles. Ingested oil can remain within the gastrointestinal tract and be absorbed
into the bloodstream and thus irritate and/or destroy epithelial cells in the stomach and
intestine. Certain constituents of oil, such as aromatic and polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons, include some well-known carcinogens. These substances, however, do not
show significant biomagnification in food chains and are readily metabolized by many
organisms. Hatchling and juvenile turtles feed opportunistically at or near the surface in
oceanic waters, and are especially sensitive to spilled oil and oil residues such as floating
tar (Lutz and Lutcavage 1987; Lutcavage et al. 1995). Tar found in the mouths of turtles
may have been selectively eaten or ingested accidentally while feeding on organisms or
vegetation bound by tar (Geraci and St. Aubin 1987; Geraci 1990). Spilled oil may also
foul the baleen fibers of mysticete whales, thereby impairing food-gathering efficiency or
result in the ingestion of oil or oil contaminated prey (Geraci and St. Aubin 1987). Oil
spill response activities that may affect both cetaceans and sea turtles involve the
application of dispersant chemicals to spilled surface oil. These dispersant chemicals
contain toxic constituents that are considered to be low when compared to toxic
constituents of spilled oil (Wells 1989). There are currently little available data regarding
the effects of oil dispersants or coagulants on marine mammals or sea turtles (Tucker and
Associates, Inc. 1990). Certain species or stocks of marine mammals or sea turtles may
be at greater potential risk from spilled oil, based on their relative exposures. These
include those species or stocks that may inhabit or frequent restricted areas such as bays
and estuaries (e.g., coastal bottlenose dolphins or Kemp's ridley turtles), or those with
particular feeding strategies or a dependence on selected localized habitats for feeding,
shelter, or reproduction (e.g., surface-feeding baleen whales, sperm whales off the
Mississippi River mouth, and post-hatchling sea turtles in offshore debris lines
[convergence zones]) (Würsig 1990; B.E. Witherington 2000, personal communication,
Florida Marine Research Institute, Melbourne Beach, FL).
Ingestion of; or entanglement with, solid debris can adversely impact marine mammals
and sea turtles (Can 1987). Ingestion of plastic debris can impact the alimentary canal or
remain within the stomach. Certain species of sea turtles, such as loggerhead and
leatherback turtles, appear to ingest more debris than other species (Lutcavage et al.
1995). Recent survey data suggest that these species are the most commonly sighted
adult sea turtles in the oceanic waters of the Gulf of Mexico (Davis et al. 2000).
Entanglement in plastic debris can result in reduced mobility, drowning, and constriction
of and subsequent damage to limbs (Lutcavage et al. 1995). Currently, the discharge or
disposal of solid debris from both OCS structures and vessels is prohibited by the MMS
to lessees (30 CFR 250.40) and the U.S. Coast Guard (MARPOL, Annex V, Public Law
249
V/ada: Protected Species
1OQ-220 [101 Statute 1458]). Therefore, debris from OCS activities is not expected to
significantly adversely affect marine mammals or sea turtles in the Gulf.
Increased service vessel traffic associated with offshore OCS activities may increase the
probability of collisions between vessels and cetaceans and sea turtles, especially at night
and during periods of reduced visibility. Certain marine mammals, such as deep diving
species that spend extended periods of time at the surface (such as sperm whales), may be
particularly vulnerable to collisions with offshore vessels. Because of their relatively
small size and dark coloration on their dorsal surfaces (especially in the case of rafting
hatchlings and small juveniles), sea turtles resting on the surface or just below the surface
may be difficult to sight from moving vessels. Individual turtles that may be attracted to
offshore platforms are also at greater risk of collision with OCS service vessels.
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Baurngartner, M.F. 1995. The distribution of select species of cetaceans in the northern Gulf of
Mexico in relation to observed environmental variables. M.S. thesis, University of
Southern Mississippi. 90 pp.
Braudon, E.A. and G.S. Fargion. 1993. Mesoscale temperature features and marine mammals in
the Gulf of Mexico, p. 31. In: Tenth Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine
Mammals, Abstracts, Galveston, TX.
Carr, A.F., Jr. 1987. Impact of nonbiodegradable marine debris on the ecology and survival
outlook of sea turtles. Mar. Poll. Bull. 18:352-356.
Clapp, R.B., R.C. Banks, D. Morgan-Jacobs, and W.A. Hoffman. 1982a. Marine birds of the
southeastern United States and Gulf of Mexico. Part I, Gaviiformes and Pelicaniformes.
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254
Chapter 10: Fishes and Fisheries
David B. Snyder
Deepwater Fishes 255

Introduction 255
History of Deepwater Fish Sampling in the Gulf of Mexico 257
Epipelagic Fishes 258
Mesopelagic Fishes 260
Bathypelagic Fishes 264
Demersal Fishes 264
Interactions among Fishes of Different AssenThiages 270
Deepwater Fisheries 270
Introduction 270
History of Deepwater Fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico 271
Key Species 272
Fishing Gear Types 272
Landings Trends 275
Deepwater Fishes
Infroduction
The Gulf of Mexico with its great variety of estuarine, coastal, and shelf habitats supports
a diverse ichthyofaima. Several general reviews, compilations, and taxonomic guides
exist for fishes of the inshore and shelf regions of the Gulf (Rivas 1954; Briggs 1973;
Wails 1975; Darnell and Kleypas 1987; Hoese and Moore 1998). But until recently,
there have been no comprehensive taxonomic or ecological accounts of the Gull's
deepwater fishesthose inhabiting the pelagic and demersal habitats beyond the
continental shelf break. Potts and Ramsey (1987) produced a guidebook for deepwater
fishes of the Gulf of Mexico, and more recently, McEachran and Fechhelm (1998)
published the first of a two volume systematic summary of Gulf of Mexico fishes that
included deepwater species. With this taxonomic foundation now in hand, the stage is set
for an ecological summary of knowledge concerning Gulf of Mexico deepwater fishes.
This section reviews the available information on the taxonomic composition and
ecological characteristics of fish assemblages inhabiting pelagic and demersal
components of the Gulf of Mexico deepwater (>200 m) environment. The pelagic
component may be further subdivided into three depth-related layers: epipelagic (0 to
200 m), mesopelagic (200 to 1,000 m), and bathypelagic (>1,000 m) (Figure 10]).
These subdivisions reflect to some degree concomitant patterns in physical environmental
variables such as light, temperature, and dissolved oxygen. In some cases, the distinction
between mesopelagic and bathypelagic is blurred, so the term midwater is used when
referring to these two zones collectively. The dernersal component simply consists of the
255
ZONES LIGHT TEMPERATURE
0
5 O0
2°C
EPIPELAGJC
MESOPELAGIC Permenerl Thermoc line
10o0 1000
BATH VP E LAG IC
DEPTH
-2000 - 2000
(in meters)
3000...
Cantin- I
1 3000
ental CoriIlnerIlIr I
Continenlel
shelt Slope Rise
..4000 1 4000
I
BENTHOPELAGIC
ABYS S AL P LAIN
=DEMERSAL
BE NJTH IC
Figure 10.1. Diagram of the environmental framework used to describe deepwater fishes of the Gulf of Mexico (Adapted from: Helfman
etal. 1997).
Snyder: Fishes and Fisheries
seafloor seaward of the continental shelf break (or about 200 m) including, where
applicable, the continental slope, continental rise, and abyssal plain. This general
pelagic/demersal scheme has been effectively used to frame discussions of deep-sea
fishes in other regions (e.g., Marshall 1979; Haedrich 1997; Merrett and Haedrich 1997).
History of Deepwater 1ish Sampling in the Gulf of Mexico
Biological sainpling in the deep-sea is costly and time-consuming, requiring large vessels
equipped with specialized gear. Despite the onerous nature of deepwater investigations,
numerous sampling programs have been conducted in the Gulf of Mexico over the past
100 years that either directly or indirectly targeted deepwater fishes. During the first
such program, which extended from 1877 to 1880, A. Agassiz aboard the U.S. Coast
Survey steamer BLAKE collected the first samples of deepwater (to 3,658 rn) fishes from
the Gulf of Mexico (Pequegnat 1976). These efforts consisted mainly of bottom trawling
and dredging, but midwater fishes were collected as trawls were retrieved through the
water column. In 1884, the U.S. Fish Commission vessel ALBATROSS also made some
deepwater collections in the Gulf of Mexico. Goode and Bean (1896) later described
many of the fishes collected in Gulf waters by the BLAKE and the ALBATROSS. With
the exception of a few collections made near the Dry Tortugas in the late 193 0's by
W.H. Longley (Longley and Hildebrand 1941), there was a hiatus in sampling of the deep
Gulf until the 1950's. At this time, the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries vessel OREGON
and to a lesser extent the vessels SILVER BAY, COMBAT, and PELICAN began
exploratory fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. Although these vessels mostly sampled shelf
waters, some deepwater stations were sampled with pelagic and boftom tending gear
types, and these efforts continue today with the NMFS vessel OREGON II. Most of the
early efforts were under the direction of H.R. Bullis and S. Springer (Springer and Bullis
1956; Bullis and Thompson 1965). Many of the fishes collected during these surveys
contributed to publications on deepwater demersal fishes (Grey 1956, 1958, 1959; Nelson
and Carpenter 1968; Gutherz 1967; Rohr and Gutherz 1997) and epipelagic fishes (Bullis
1955a,b; Iwarnoto 1965).
The next series of deepwater collections were made from 1964 to 1973 under the
supervision of W.E. Pequegnat of Texas A&M University (Pequegnat 1976, 1983).
Pequegnat's sampling program, conducted aboard the research vessel ALAMINOS,
primarily focused on the demersal environment. Bottom trawls, dredges (including a
skimmer dredge), and benthic photographs were taken at 264 stations in water depth
ranging from 81 to 3,493 m across the northern Gulf of Mexico. Samples collected
during these cruises provided an information base from which several dissertations and
theses were produced, some of which focused directly (Bright 1968; Rayburn 1975;
Martin 1978) or indirectly (Roberts 1977) on fishes. Also during the same period, 38
midwater (0 to 3,600 m) fish collections were made throughout the Gulf of Mexico with
an Isaacs-Kidd midwater trawl (Bright and Pequegnat 1969; Murdy et al. 1983). Other
collections of midwater fishes were made in the 1960's by Russian and Cuban
investigators aboard the ALEXANDER KOVALEVSKTI (Rass 1971) and by Woods
Hole Oceanographic Institution (Backus et al. 1977).
257
In 1971, Ti. Hopkins at the University of South Florida began a sampling program that
focused on mesopelagic fishes and invertebrates (micronekton). His program continued
for 20 years with 24 sampling cruises made aboard various research vessels to the same
"standard station" in the eastern Gulf of Mexico (27°N Lat, 86°W Long). Using nets
capable of being closed at discrete depths (Tucker trawis and MOCNESS nets), Hopkins
and his students amassed considerable information on species composition, life histories,
vertical migration, and feeding ecology of mesopelagic fishes (e.g., Hopkins and Lancraft
1984; Gartner et al. 1987; Sutton and I-Iopkins 1996a,b; Hopkins et al. 1997).
Finally, in the early 1980's the MMS funded a series of studies investigating the
continental slope biota of the northern Gulf of Mexico. These studies were conducted by
LGL Ecological Research Associates, Inc and Texas A&M University (LGL and TAMU
1985, 1986; Gallaway 1988; Gallaway et al. 1988). Bottom trawl samples were collected
during five cruises made from 1983 to 1985. In all, 59 stations were sampled along three
downslope transects and along selected depth contours in the western, central, and eastern
Gulf. Information on the density, diversity, distribution, and food habits of demersal
fishes was obtained during the biological sampling portion of these efforts.
Epipelagic Fishes
A diverse assemblage of epipelagic fishes inhabits the euphotic zone, the upper 200 m
layer of the Gulf of Mexico. The most recognizable members of this assemblage are
tunas, billfishes, dolphins, and sharks. Lesser known representatives include driftfishes,
oarfishes, opahs, flyingfishes, and molas. A phylogenetic listing of epipelagic fishes
reported from the Gulf of Mexico is given in Table 10.1. The overall assemblage is
composed of 10 orders with 34 families containing 120 species. The most diverse orders
are Perciformes (perch-like fishes), Beloniformes (flyingfishes and halfbeaks), and
Tetraodontiformes (molas, triggerfishes, and puffers).
As mentioned above, there has been little direct scientific investigation into any aspect of
the epipelagic assemblage. Not surprisingly, much of what is known has been collected
only for the economically important species such as tunas and billfishes. Exploratory
fishing expeditions by the U.S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries and observations of
commercial longline fisheries have provided information on species composition,
distribution, abundance and behavior of sharks, tunas, and billfishes (Springer 1957;
Iwamoto 1965; Bransetter and McEachran 1983; Anderson 1985, 1990; Russell 1993).
Biological data (size, age, and reproductive condition) on billfishes and tunas have been
gathered by researchers visiting recreational fishing tournaments held along the Gulf
coast (NMFS 1 999a). Recently, J. Franks and colleagues of the Gulf Coast Research
Laboratory have investigated age, growth, reproduction, and stock identity in wahoo
(Acanthocybium solandri) using specimens obtained from recreational fishing
tournaments. Information on spawning of tunas and other species has been inferred from
larval fish collections made in the eastern Gulf (e.g., McGowan and Richards 1989;
Richards et al. 1989).
258
Table 10.1. Orders and families of epipelagic (0 to 200 m) fishes known from the Gulf of
Mexico, arranged in phylogenetic order
Order Oreetolobiformes Order Syngnathiformes

Rhincodontidae (whale shark) Syngnathidae (pipefishes)
Order Lamniformes Order Perciformes
Alopidae (thresher sharks) Echeneidae (shark suckers)
Cetorhinidae (basking shark) Carangidae (jacks)
Larnnidae (mackerel sharks) Coryphaenidae (dolphins)
Order Carcharhiniformes Bramidae (pomfTets)
Carcharhinidae (requiem sharks) Lobotidae (tripletail)
Order Myliobatiformes Kyphosidae (chubs)
Dasyatididae (stingrays) Gempylidae (snake mackerels)
Mobulidae (mantas) Istiophoridae (bilifishes)
Order Lampridiformes Xiphiidae (swordfish)
Lampridae (opah) Scombridae (tunas and mackerels)
Lophotidae (crestfishes) Centrolophidae (drififishes)
Regalecidae (oarfishes) Nomeidae (man-o-war fish)
Order Lophiiforrnes Ariommatidae (ariommatids)
Antennariidae (frogfishes) Stromateidae (driftfishes)
Order Beloniformes Order Tetraodontiformes
Belonidae (needlefishes) Monacanthidae (filefishes)
Exocoetidae (flying fishes) Diodontidae (puffers)
Hemiramphidae (halfbeaks) Molidae (molas)
The most frequently caught tuna species during exploratory fishing trips were skipjack
(Katsuwonus pelamis), yellowfin (Thunnus albacares), blackfin (T. allanticus), and
bluefin (T thynnus). The highest catches of tunas were made along the 1,000 fm curve
east of the Mississippi delta (Bullis 1955b ; Iwamoto 1965). The most common sharks in
deepwater catches were silky (Carcharhinusfalcformis), spinner (C. brevipinna), and
sandbar (C. plumbeus) (Anderson 1985, 1990; Russell 1993).
The distribution and abundance of epipelagic species is influenced by several interrelated

variables: water temperature, thickness of the isothermic layer, circulation patterns, and
biological productivity (Farm 1968). Fishermen contend that yellowfin tuna aggregate
near sea surface temperature boundaries or water mass convergence zones; however,
Power and May (1991) found no correlation between longline catches of yellowfm tuna
and sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico. A consequence of water mass
convergence zones is the surface accumulation of flotsam and Sargassum (Carr 1986).
This drifting material plays an important ecological role as habitat for many fishes.
Floating seaweed (Sargassum); jellyfishes, siphonophores, and driftwood attract juvenile

and adult epipelagic fishes. Larger predators forage around flotsam. As many as 54 fish
species are closely associated with floating Sargassum at some point in their life cycle,
but only 2 spend their entire lives there: the sargassumfish and the sargassum pipefish
(Adams 1960; Dooley 1972; Bortone et al. 1977). Most fish associated with Sargassum
are temporary residents, such as juveniles of species that reside in shelf or coastal waters
as adults (Dooley 1972; Bortone et al. 1977). However, several larger species of
259
recreational or commercial importance including doiphinfish, yellowfin tuna, blackfin

tuna, skipjack tuna, Atlantic bonito, little tunny, and wahoo feed on the small fish and
invertebrates attracted to Sargassum (Manooch et al. 1983; Manooch and Mason 1984;
Morgan et al. 1985).
Some epipelagic fishes aJso exhibit another behavioral phenomenon related to flotsam
attraction: affinity for large moored objects. This is often referred to as the FAD (fish
attracting device) effect, and it has been documented in various regions of the world for
tunas, dolphins, and other species (e.g., Holland et al. 1990; Higashi 1994; Relini et al.
1994). In many areas of the world, fishers have taken advantage of this behavior by
deploying FADs to attract tunas and other species. Deepwater oil and gas structures in
the Gulf of Mexico act as large FADs and attract epipelagic fishes of all kinds.
Information on spawning of tunas and other species has been inferred from larval fish
collections made in the eastern Gulf (e.g., McGowan aild Richards 1989; Richards et al.
1989, 1993). Much of the information available on spawning in epipelagic fishes points
to the importance of temperature gradients and mesoscale oceanographic features.
Spawning by bluefin tuna in the Gulf of Mexico appears to be associated with the Loop
Current (McGowan and Richards 1989). Adult bluefin tuna migrate into the Gulf of
Mexico in springtime and spawn. This appears to be the only maj or spawning area for
the western Atlantic bluefin stock (NMFS 1999a). Yellowfin and skipjack tuna also
spawn in the Gulf of Mexico (NMFS 1 999a). Other, noncommercially important species
such as big-eye cigarfish (Cubicepspauciradiatus) also spawn along the edge of the
Loop Current (Richards et al. 1993; Lampkin 1997).
Mesopelagic Fishes
Mesopelagic fishes are generally found from 200 to 1,000 m depths in the water column.
This group is phylogenetically primitive and among the most morphologically specialized
of fishes (Marshall 1979). Their long evolutionary history has presumably allowed for
the adaptive radiation that has occurred in response to the cold, dark midwater
environment (Marshall 1979). Mesopelagic fish assemblages in the Gulf of Mexico are
taxonomically diverse, consisting of eight orders comprising 30 families with 213 species
(Table 10.2). The most specious groups are stomatiids (dragonfishes), myctophids
(lanternfishes), and gonostomatids (bristlemouths). These and all other taxonomic groups
listed in Table 10.2 are entirely restricted to the midwater environment. The Stomiidae
with 73 species are the most diverse family of fishes known for the Gulf of Mexico
(Sutton and Hopkins 1 996a; McEachran and Fechhelm 1998). The second most diverse
group is the myctophids represented by 49 species in the Gulf of Mexico (Backus et al.
1977; Gartner et al. 1987).
T.L. I-Iopkins, his students, and colleagues have contributed most of the information on
mesopelagic fish ecology in the Gulf of Mexico. This group has published data on
species composition, abundance, biomass, vertical migration patterns, reproductive
patterns, and trophic structure for the common families. Common families include
gonostomatids, rnyctophids, sternoptychids (hatchetfish), and stomiids (e.g., Hopkins and
Lancraft 1984; Hopkins and Baird 1985b; Gartner et al. 1987; Gartner 1993; Sutton and
Hopkins 1996a).
260
Table 10.2. Orders and families of mesopelagic and bathypelagic fishes known from the
Gulf of Mexico, arranged in phylogenetic order (following McEachran
and Fechhelrn 1998)
MESOPELAGIC (200-1,000 m) MIESOPELAGIC (200-1,000 m) (continued)

Order Anguillifoi-mes Order Stephanoberyciformes
Nernichthyidae (snipe eels) Gibberichthyidae
Order Osmeriformes Melamphaidae (bigscales)
Microstomatidae (niicrostomatids) Stephanoberycidae
Order Stomiiforrnes Barbourisiidae
Cetornirnidae (whalefishes)
Gonostomatidae (bristlernouths) Mirapinnidae
Sternoptychidae (marine hatchetfislies) Rondeletiidae
Phosichthyidae (lightfishes) Order Berycifonnes
Astronestbidae (snaggletooths) Anoplogasteridae (fangtooth)
Chauliodontidae (viperfishes) Diretmidae (spinyfins)
Idiacanthidae (black dragonfishes)
Malacosteidae (loosejaws) BATHYPELAGIC (>1,000 m)
Melanostomidae (scaleless dragonfishes) Order Osmeriformes
Stomiidae (scaly dragonfishes) Argentiuidae (argentines)
Order Aulopiformes Bathylagidae (deep-sea smelts)
Opisthoproctidae (spookfishes)
Giganturidae (giganturids) Platytroctidae (tubeshoulders)
Aulopidae (flagfins) Order Aulopiformes
Scopelarchidae (pearleyes) Notosudidae
Alepisauridae (lancetfishes) Ornosudidae
Everrnannellidae (sabertooth fishes) Order Gadiformes
Paralepididae (barracudinas) Melanonidae (pelagic cods)
Order Myctophiformes Order Lophiiformes
Myctophidae (lanternfishes) Ceratiidae (seadevils)
Neoscopelidae (neoscopelids) Diceratiidae (deep-sea anglers)
Himatolophidae (football fishes)
Order Lampridiformes
Linophrynidae
Stylephoridae (tube-eye) Melanocetjdae
Trachipteridae (ribbonfishes) Oneirodidae
Mesopelagic fishes tend to be small and can be extremely abundant; they are often
responsible for the deep scattering layer in sonar images of the deep sea. Gonostomatids
(bristlernouths) numerically dominated mesopelagic fish collections in the Gulf of
Mexico (Murdy et al. 1983; Hopkins and Lancraft 1984). The genus Cyclothone
contributed 34% of the numbers (ito 2 fishm2) of micronekton in the upper 1,000 m
(I-Iopkins and Lancraft 1984). Another species, Gonostoma elongatuin, exhibited a
density of 0.2 fishm2 and standing stock of 75.6 mg-m2 (dry weight) (Lancraft et al.
1988). The second most abundant group was the myctophids (lanternfishes). The most
abundant myctophid species in the eastern Gulf were Ceratoscopelus warmingii,
Notolychnus valdiviae, Lepidophanes guentheri, Lampanyctus alatus, Diaphanus
dumerilii, Benthosema suborbitale, and Mycrophum affine (Gartner et al. 1987). The
most common sternoptychids (hatchetfishes) collected were Argyropelecus aculeatus,
A. hetnigymnus, Sternoplyx diaphana, arid S. psuedobscura (Hopkins and Baird 1985b).
These four species ranged in abundance from 0.02 1 to 0.053 fishm2 in the upper
261
1,000 m (Hopkins and Baird 1 985b). For the entire stomiid assemblage sampled in the
upper 1,000 m of the eastern Gulf, minimum biomass and standing stock estimates were
1.86 individualsm2 and 35.3 kg-kuf2 (dry weight). The most abundant stomiid species
were Photostomias guernei, Chauliodus sloani, and Stomias affinis.
A common characteristic of mesopelagic fishes is the phenomenon of die! vertical

migration. Many species will migrate vertically each right from depths of 400 to 800 rn
into epipelagic waters, often reaching the surface. This phenomenon has been studied for
several of the common Gulf of Mexico species and three basic patterns have been found:
synchronous migration, asynchronous migration, and no migration. Synchronous
migration is when all individuals of a species undergo nocturnal vertical migration.
Individuals of Gonostoma elongatum were found to migrate synchronously, moving from
daytime depths of 425 to 725 m to 25 to 325 m depths at night (Lancrafi et al. 1988).
This species migrated as much as 400 m vertically, but never occurred above the 25 m
layer. Myctophids, also synchronous migrators, spend the daytime in depths of 200 to
1,000 m, but migrate vertically at night into near-surface waters. Individual myctophid
species migrated in patterns that formed a complex series of layers of migrating fishes
that clearly separated into 5 day and 5 night groups (Gartner et al. 1987). Four stomiid
species of the genus Astronesthes also migrated synchronously between 400 to 700 m and
0 to 200 m. There was also circumstantial evidence of bathypelagic (below 1,000 m) to
epipelagic (0 to 300 m) migration by two other stomiid species, Echiostomias barbatum
and Leptostomias bilobatus (Sutton and Hopkins 1996a). The most abundant stomiids
(P. guernei, C. sloani, and S. affinis) were asynchronous vertical migrators; about half of
the individuals migrated from 500 to 900 m depths to 20 to 300 m at night while other
half of the individuals remained at daytime depths (Sutton and Hopkins 1 996a).
Hatchetfishes of the genus Sternoplyx were found not to migrate and remained in 500 to
800 m depths throughout the die! cycle (Hopkins and Baird 1985b). Two species of the
genus Argyropelecus did migrate into the epipelagic zone at night to feed upon
zooplankton.
Feeding cycles correspond closely with vertical migratory patterns in mesopelagic fishes,
and hunger may be an important driving force behind die! migrations. Many midwater
species depend upon the food-rich epipelagic layers to fulfill their daily energy
requirements. In general, three feeding guilds are recognized for mesopelagic fishes:
micronekton feeders, zooplankton feeders, and generalists (Gartner et al. 1997).
Representatives from all of these groups occur in the Gulf of Mexico (Hopkins et al.
1997). Myctophids, sternoptychids, and gonostomatids were the primary zooplankton
feeding taxa. They consumed 31%, 27%, and 14% of the planktonic food biomass eaten
daily by the midwater assemblage (Hopkins et al. 1997). The primary fish-consuming
family was the Stomiidae, accounting for 61% of all fish eaten.
Myctophids fed mostly on crustacean zooplankton (copepods) (Hopkins and Baird 1 985a;
Hopkins and Gartner 1992; Hopkins et al. 1997). The hatchetfish A. aculeatus appeared
to migrate vertically into the epipelagic zone where young stages consumed ostracods
and copepods and larger individuals consumed pteropods and euphausiids. All size
classes of A. hemigymnus foraged at 300 to 500 m on ostracods and copepods. Juvenile
262
S. diaphana ate copepods, ostracods, and amphipods, and adults consumed mostly
amphipods and euphausiids in water depths of 500 to 800 m. S. heniigymnus remained
below 800 m where juveniles fed upon copepods, polychaetes, and euphausiids, and
adults fed upon amphipods and fishes (Hopkins and Baird 1985b). The gonostomatid G.
elongatum fed mainly upon copepods and ostracods as young individuals, and on
euphausiids as adults mostly at night in the epipelagic zone (Lancraft et al. 1988).
Stomiids proved to be an important upper level group of predators in the pelagic food
web (Sutton and Hopkins 1996a). The stomiid assemblage formed four basic categories
with respect to food habits: myctophid predation, zooplanktonlsmall micronekton
predation, penaeidean shrimp predation, and copepod/rnicronekton predation (Sutton and
I-Iopkins 1 996b). The storniids investigated were selective with respect to prey items
ingested. Stomiids inflict the highest predation impact on myctophids in low-latitude
ecosystems, and historic use of predation-avoidance arguments to explain certain
mesopelagic phenomena (e.g., vertical migration, ventral photophores) appears to be
substantiated. The stomiids may be important in the transport of energy from the
mesopelagic to the bathypelagic and benthopelagic.
Hopkins and colleagues (Gartner et al. 1987; Hopkins and Gartner 1992; Hopkins et al.
1997; Hopkins and Sutton 1998) interpreted much of the observed interplay between
vertical migration and feeding mode in the light of ecological competition among fish
and invertebrate species. Considerable dietary overlap was found among the abundant
myctophid species that inhabit the epipelagic zone at night (Hopkins and Gartner 1992).
When both vertical distribution and diet were considered together, little inter- or
intra-specific overlap occurred. This was construed as a prime example of resource
partitioning that evolved in response to competition during the evolution of the midwater
ecosystem. The high degree of overlap in diet allows species packing in an otherwise
structureless water column (the epipelagic zone at night).
The daily consumption of the eastern Gulf midwater assemblage was estimated to be 2.5
to 4.3 kg Cknf2 in the upper 1,000 m (Hopkins et al. 1997). Most (80%) of this was
provided by zooplankton and the remainder was larger prey, mostly fish. The ingestion
rates accounted for only 5% to 10% of the daily production, but 95% of fish daily
production. These dietary findings agree with similar studies performed in other
oligotrophic regions of the oceans. In Chapter 6 of this report, Biggs and Ressler argue
that for areas other than the eastern Gulf, and where productivity "hot spots" occur, the
pelagic environment is more productive, or mesotrophic.
263
Bathypelagic Fishes
The deeper dwelling bathypelagic fishes inhabit the water column at depths greater than
1,000 m and seldom migrate into shallower waters. This group is composed of bizarre,
little-known species such as gulper eels, slickheads, deep-sea anglers, bigscales, and
whalefishes (McEachran and Fechhelm 1998). There are 4 orders, 13 families, and
49 species known for the Gulf of Mexico. Many of these species also occur above
1,000 m. Like mesopelagic fishes most species are capable of producing and emitting
light (bioluminescence) to aid in communicating in an environment devoid of sunlight.
Like the mesopelagic fishes, these species display some of the most interesting
evolutionary adaptations to the deep-sea environment. Unfortunately, there have been no
studies directed at bathypelagic fishes in the Gulf of Mexico.
Demersal Fishes
Demersal fishes are those that are either in direct contact with the substrate or hover
above it from the shelf slope transition to the abyssal plain. The taxonomic composition
of the demersal ichthyofauna in the Gulf of Mexico includes 27 orders with 70 families
representing 300 species (Table 10.3). The most diverse order is the Gadiformes
(cod-like fishes) with 7 families and 44 species followed by Anguilliformes (eels) with
5 families and 35 species, Ophidiiformes (brotulas and cusk-eels) with 4 families and
33 species; and Perciformes (perch-like fishes) with 10 families and 28 species.
Representatives of these groups were collected during the MMS-sponsored demersal

sampling programs summarized by Pequegnat (1983) and Gallaway et al. (1988). These
two programs have provided the most comprehensive data available on the demersal
assemblage. The latter program collected samples from eastern, central, and western
transects which allowed some spatial comparisons to be made in species composition,
density, diversity, food habits and depth-related zonation patterns.
The five most abundant species collected during Pequegnat's sampling program were
Gadomus longfihis, Dicrolene intronigra, Synaphobranchus ore goni, Dibranchus
atlanticus, and Nezumia aequalis. The top five species collected by Gallaway et al.
(1988) were Urophycis cirratus, S. oregoni, Coelorhincus caribbaeus, D, atlanticus, and
Bembrops gobiodes. Table 10.4 shows the top species and their depth of maximum
occurrence. The numbers of fish per hectare collected on the three transects were 1,222
(western), 620 (central), and 1,511 (eastern). Densities of demersal fishes were estimated
from photography as 198.5 fishha' during cruises II to V. Densities estimated by
trawling were much less than those estimated by benthic photography; some were as high
as 12.5 times less. Diversity (Shannon's H') declined with depth along all three
transects, but did not differ significantly among the three transects. Some evidence for
differing spatial patterns in species composition was provided by sampling along three
(eastern, central, and western) downslope transects. A basic finding was that the eastern
Gulf supported a more dense and species rich assemblage than the western Gulf
(Gallaway et al. 1988).
264
Table 10.3. Deepwater (>200 m) demersal fishes known from the

Gulf of Mexico, arranged in phylogenetic order
Order Myxiniformes Order Gadiformes

Myxinidae (hagfishes) Bregrnacerotidae (codlets)
Order Chimaeriformes Phycidae (bakes)
Chimaeridae (ratfishes) Macrouridae (grenadiers)
Rhinochimaeridae (longnose raffishes) Merlucciidae (offshore hakes)
Order Orectolobiformes Steindachneriidae (luminous hake)
Odontaspidae (sand tiger sharks) Moridae (moras)
Order Carcharhiniformes Order Batrachoidiformes
Scyliorhinidae (catsharks) Batrachoididae (toadfishes)
Carcharhinidae (requiem sharks) Order Lophiiforiues
Triakidae (smoothhound sharks) Antennariidae (frogfishes)
Order Hexanchiformes Chaunacidae (gapers)
Hexancbidae (sixgill and sevengill sharks) Ogcocephalidae (batfishes)
Order Squaliformes Thaumatichthyidae
Echinorhinidae (bramble sharks) Order Beryciformes
Squalidae (dogfish sharks) Trachichthyidae (slimeheads)
Order Squatiniformes Berycidae (alfonsinos)
Squatinidae (angel sharks) Holocentridae (squirrelfishes)
Order Torpediniformes Order Zeiformes
Narcinidae (electric rays) Grammicocephalidae (diamond dories)
Torpedinidae (torpedo rays) Macrurocyttidae
Order Raj iformes Parazenidae
Rajidae (skates) Zeidae (dories)
Order Myliobatiformes Caproidae (boarfishes)
Dasyatididae (stingrays) Order Gasterosteifonnes
Order Notacanthiformes Centriscidae (snipefishes)
Halosatiridae (halosaurs) Syngnathidae (pipefishes)
Notocanthidae (notacanthid eels) Order Scorpaeniforrnes
Order Anguilliformes Scorpaenidae (scorpionfishes)
Synaphobranchidae (cutthroat eels) Triglidae (sea robins)
Ophichthidae (snake eels) Order Perciformes
Colocongridae Acromatidae
Congridae (conger eels) Serranidae (groupers and sea basses)
Nettastomatidae (duckbill eels) Epigonidae
Serrivornerjdae (sawtooth eels) Apogonidae (cardinalfishes)
Order Osmeriformes Malacanthidae (tilefishes)
Alepocephalidae (smoothheads) Lutjanidae (snappers)
Order Ateleopodoiformes Zoarcidae (eelpouts)
Ateleopodidae Uranoscopidae (stargazers)
Order Aulopiformes Percophididae (flatheads)
Aulopidae (fiagfins) Callionymidae (dragonets)
Ipnopinae (tripodfishes) Order Pleuronectiformes
Synodontidae (lizardfishes) Paralichthyidae (flounders)
Order Polymixiiformes Bothidae (lefteye flounders)
Polymixiidae (beardfishes) Cynoglossidae (tonguefishes)
Order Ophidiiformes Order Tetraodontiformes
Carapidae (pearlfishes) Triacanthodidae (spikefishes)
Ophidiidae (cusk-eels) Monacanthidae (filefishes)
Aphyonidae
Bythitidae
265
Table 10.4. Comparison of most abundant species of fish

between the Gallaway et al. (1988) and Pequegnat (1983) studies.
Fish are ranked in order of decreasing abundance
Gallaway et al. (1988) Pequegnat (1983)

(All Transects) (All Stations)
Depth of Depth of
Species Max. Pop. Species Max. Pop.
(m) (m)
Poecilopsetta beani 348 Poecilopsetta beani 250
Bembrops gobiodes 348 Bembrops gobiodes 400
Coelorinchus caribbaeus 348 Coelorinchus caribbaeus 300
Hymenocephalus italicus 348 Hymenocephalus italicus 450
Urophycis cirrata 348 Urophycis cirrata 450
Dibranchus atlanticus 657 Dibranchus atlanticus 650
Nezumia aequalis 657 Nezumia aequalis 900
Synaphobranchus sp. 839 Synaphobranchus sp. 1,000
Gadomus longfihis 1,341 Gadomus 1ongfihis 1,050
Monomitopus sp. 839 Monornitopus sp. 1,050
Dicrolene sp. 1,341 Dicrolene sp. 1,200
Stephanoberyx monae 1,341 Stephanoberyx monae 1,200
Parasudis truculenta 348 Parasudis truculenta 250
Setarchus guentheri 348 Pontinus longispinus 200
Chlorophthalmus agassizif 348 Yarella blackfordi 650
Epigonuspandionis 348 Bathygadus melanobranchus 900
Malacocephalus occidentalis 348 Aidrovandia gracilis 1,450
Peristedion greyae 348 Halosaurus guentheri 900
266
Despite problems with examining stomach contents of fishes brought to the surface from
great depths (i.e., stomach eversion, regurgitation, rapid decomposition of stomach
contents), several investigators have examined food habits in deepsea fishes (Bright
1970; Rayburn 1975; Gallaway et al. 1988). The specimens examined consumed a wide
range of organisms including fishes, epifauna, infauna, rneiofauna, and planktonic
invertebrates. Fishes were important in the diets of the eel S. oregoni, and greeneye
Chlorophthalmus agassizi. The stomachs of three common species, B. gob iodes,
G. ion gJilis, and N. aequalis contained mostly natant crustaceans (shrimps). The batfish
D. àtianticus consumed pagurids (hermit crabs) and polychaete worms, whereas
Coelorhincus caribbaeus fed mostly upon polychaetes. Rayburn (1975) found that
Nezumia hildebrandi, Halosaurus guntheri, D. intronigra, and Cariburus zaniophorus
fed upon infauna, predominantly polychaetes and amphipods. Bathygadus vailianti
consumed calanoid copepods and infauna. Monomitopus agassizii ate ostracods,
copepods, and amphipods.
A central focus of the dernersal slope studies (Pequegnat 1983; Gallaway et al. 1988) was
the analysis of depth distribution of the megafaunal (larger invertebrates and demersal
fishes) assemblage as a whole. Like others working in similar environments elsewhere in
the world (e.g., Gage and Tyler 1996), the Gulf investigators suggested that species
assemblages form discrete depth-related groups along the continental slope and upper
abyssal plain (Pequegnat 1983; Gallaway and Kennicutt 1988; Pequegnat et al. 1990),
Fishes figured prominently in the formation of depth-related faunal zones, and when
analyzed separately, fish data seemed to agree with the overall megafaunal zonation
schemes. Depth zones were objectively derived using cluster analyses of the megafaunal
data sets. In the earlier study, Pequegnat (1983) recognized five depth zones, based upon
the distribution of benthic megafauna:
Shelf/Slope Transition Zone (118 to 475 m)

Archibenthal Zone-Horizon A (500 to 775 in)
Archibenthal Zone-Horizon B (800 to 975 m)
Upper Abyssal Zone (1,000 to 2,275 m)
Mesoabyssal Zone (2,300 to 3,225 m)
Lower Abyssal Zone (3,250 to 3,850 m)
Gallaway et al. (1988) conducted further sampling both horizontally and vertically along
the depth gradient seeking to test the validity of the earlier scheme. They (LGL
Ecological Research Associates, Inc. and Texas A&M University 1986) initially decided
that four basic zones existed: shelf/slope transition, archibenthal, upper abyssal, and
mesoabyssal. Following similar analysis of their data, Gallaway et al. (1988) revised the
existing scheme as follows:
Shelf/Slope Transition Zone (300 to 500 m)

Upper Archibenthal Zone (500 to 800 m)
Lower Archibenthal Zone (800 to 1,650 m)
Upper Abyssal Zone (1,650 to 2,250 m)
Mesoabyssal Zone (2,250 to 3,000 m)
267
Minor differences between these two approaches include a change in terminology; a

deepening of the lower limit of the Lower Archibenthal Zone; and classification of the
Upper Abyssal Zone as largely transitional in nature (Gallaway 1988). Thus, the same
general zonation scheme was upheld.
The fish assemblage found in each zone was characterized by one or several common
species (Pequegnat et al. 1990). In the shelf/slope transition zone B. gobioides,
D. atlanticus, C. caribbaeus, and P. bean! were most common. The upper archibenthal
zone was characterized by two grenadiers (C. coelorhincus and Bathygadus macrops),
whereas the lower archibenthal zone supported high numbers of two additional grenadier
species (N. aequalis and B. melanobranchus). In the upper abyssal zone, the dominant
fish species was G. long/ilis. The mesoabyssal zone supported a depauperate fish
assemblage consisting of only five species including Dicrolene kanazawai and Basozetus
normalis. The lower abyssal zone was depauperate, but supported a unique fish
assemblage represented by Barathronus bicolor and Bathytroctes macrolepis.
That megafauna form discrete bathymetric zones is certainly appealing to managers, for
good reason. Unfortunately, imposing artificial boundaries on continuous
species-specific variation can present problems. Carney et al. (1983) cautioned against
the use of unproven zonation schemes presented for the deep sea in general and presented
an alternative and simpler scheme that described the slope assemblage as undefined and
essentially continuous (Figure 10.2). The interpretation of multivariate data along
environmental gradients can be affected by sampling adequacy, sampling scale, and
analytical technique (Carney et al. 1983). The Pequegnat (1983) original zonation
scheme was based upon 25 trawl hauls and 79 dredge tows made across the depth
gradient at various locations along the continental slope. Fishes were collected primarily
in the 25 trawl hauls, not in the dredges. Of these samples, only 12 were taken in depths
greater than 1,000 m: seven from 1,000 to 2,000 m, two from 2,000 to 3,000 in, and three
from 3,000 to 4,000 m. This may be too few samples, distributed in haphazard fashion,
to adequately represent the structure of the existing demersal assemblage. Another
possible sampling bias is that the areas selected for trawling (level bottom) may
inaccurately represent the average (and untrawlable) topography of the slope (see
Chapter 3, Geology). Gallaway et al. (1988) recognized some of these problems and
attempted to resolve the problem by taking samples at smaller downslope intervals along
their (western) transect. Nevertheless, their study added 58 trawl hauls (17 in water
depths greater than 1,000 m), but used a smaller trawl (9 m opening vs. 24 m opening).
Additional problems may arise when certain analytical techniques such as cluster analysis
are used to form depth-related assemblages (Carney et al. 1983). Given the potential
problems with the basic underpinning of the original zonation schemes, a more
conservative approach for managers may be to accept the Carney et al. (1983) scheme
(i.e., no true zones on the slope) until further data are available to support another
proposed zonation scheme. In a similar analysis of fish depth distribution along the
northeastern Atlantic continental slope, Haedrich and Merrett (1990) claimed that for
benthopelagic fishes of the northeastern Atlantic slope, data do not produce repeatable
patterns among adjacent stations. These authors concluded that the zonation concept, or
any concept involving organized comnmnities, was not valid for deep sea fishes.
268
(Pequegnat 1983) (Carney et al. 1983)
SHELF-SLOPE TRANSITION
DISTINCT SHELF
1000
II IN DISTINCT FAUNA
a..
Lu
2000
DiSTINCT SLOPE
3000
0 50 100 150 200
DISTANCE OFFSHORE (nmi)
Figure 10.2. Opposing views of expected megafaunal zonation that might be observed on the Gulf of Mexico continental slope (From:
Gallaway et al. 1 988).
This same debate over continuous versus discrete assemblages along gradients has been
waged by plant ecologists and others in the past (see summaries by McIntosh 1985, 1995;
Brown 1995). In these circles, the continuum or individualistic hypothesis usually has
been favored or at least considered as a null hypothesis (Price 1986).
Interactions among Fishes of Different Assemblages
Midwater (mesopelagic and bathypelagic) fish taxocenes have most likely evolved in the
deep sea, whereas demersal and epipelagic assemblages are more derived from shallow
water ancestors and may be secondary invaders into the deepwater environments
(Haedrich 1997). Despite this modular taxonornic nature of fish assemblages inhabiting
the broad environmental subdivisions, considerable ecological interaction occurs among
the groups. Most of the important ecological interactions in deepwater proximately
involve trophic processes, and ultimately (presumably) reproductive success. When the
feeding and ontogenetic migratory patterns are considered there is considerable
exchange among the taxonomically disparate groups of fishes. Mesopelagic fishes feed
in the epipelagic zone, where they are in turn fed upon by epipelagic predators such as
tunas and dolphin. Epipelagic and midwater fishes contribute organic matter in several
forms to the demersal habitat where it will contribute to the productivity of the
invertebrate food base that supports the demersal fish assemblage.
Deepwater Fisheries
Introduction
Commercial fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico are among the most productive in the world.
Species such as menhaden; brown, white, and pink shrimp; oysters; blue crab; and red
snapper drive the landings and dockside values. Gulf coastal states derive considerable
revenues from regional commercial fisheries (Browder et al. 1991; O'Bannon 1999). In
1998, commercial fishery landings in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, which includes western
Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, exceeded 1.5 billion pounds and
were worth over $700 million (O'Bannon 1999). Most of these landings were generated
from fish and invertebrate species caught in estuarmne, coastal, and shelf waters. Species
caught in the deepwater (>200 m) region contribute minimally to the overall regional
landings, but are still very important to a smaller sector of the commercial fishing
population (NMFS 1999a.
Deepwater fisheries of the Gulf of Mexico have not been formally reviewed, but
Mcllwain (1999) briefly described the deepwater fisheries and fishery practices occuning
in the De Soto Canyon region of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. He listed deepwater
trawling, butterfish trawling, golden crab trapping, surface longlining, and bottom
longlining as the major fishing endeavors of that area. Both butterfish trawling and
golden crab trapping appear to be of minimal importance in the overall deepwater fishery
(Josh Bennett, 2000, NMFS, Miami, FL, personal communication). Surface longlining,
270
shrimp trawling, and bottom longlining are the most important deepwater fisheries in
terms of pounds landed. All three of these methods were initially "discovered" through
the exploratory fishing efforts of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, which began
around 1950. Species sought by deepwater commercial fishers can be divided into three
basic groups: epipelagic fishes, dernersal fishes, and invertebrates. The following review
examines the history of deepwater commercial fisheries, key species, gear types, and
landings trends associated with the three basic fisheries. Commercial fisheries are the
subject of this review, not because recreational fisheries are unimportant or do not occur
in deepwater, but because there has not been enough information published on them.
History of Deepwater Fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico
The history of deepwater commercial fishing in the Gulf began in 1950 with federally
funded exploratory fishing programs. The program began investigating deepwater
shrimp resources and graduated to tuna fishing in the waters of the open Gulf (Bullis
1955a; Iwamoto 1965). After unsuccessful attempts to catch tunas with purse seines and
live bait fishing, the Bureau's exploratory efforts shifted to longlining for tunas in 1952
(Bullis 1 955a,b,c). About the same time, Japanese fishers began fishing for tunas in the
Gulf, also using longline gear (Iwamoto 1965; Lopez et al. 1979). Japanese vessels
fished in the Gulf of Mexico for the next 30 years from 1952 until 1982, when the
longlining ceased under an international agreement (Honma et al. 1985; Prager and
Browder 1992). In the early 1970's a domestic swordfish fishery became established in
the Gulf (South Atlantic Fishery Management Council 1985). This was a seasonal
fishery, mostly in fall and winter. By about 1983, an increasing demand for tuna caused
many swordfish longliners to switch methods to target them (Taniguchi 1987). The Gulf
tuna longlining fleet reached 350 to 400 vessels in 1988-1989 (Russell 1993), and
continues today with a similar number of vessels (Cramer and Adams 1999). In the
southern Gulf, Mexican fishers have been longlining for yellowfin tuna since about 1980
following the departure of the Japanese fleet (Prager and Browder 1992).
In the 1980's, the NMFS conducted another exploratory fishery program to examine the
efficacy of trawling for gulf butterfish (Peprilus burti). Commercial bufterfish vessels
and captains from the northeastern U.S. were hired to fish in various areas of the eastern
Gulf (Vecchione 1987). Although the results were promising (Vecchione 1987), 110
extensive butterfish fishery has developed (but see Mcllwain 1999).
While the epipelagic fishery was developing, exploratory fishing with bottom trawls
proved productive when in the early 1950's, exploitable quantities of royal red shrimp
(Pleoticus robustus) were found around the Gulf of Mexico in 500 to 900 rn water depths
(Bullis 1956). Commercial fishers did not begin targeting royal red shrimp until the
1960's (Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council [GMFMC] 1996). Exploratory
efforts by the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries were also the first to attempt bottom
longline fishing in deepwaters of the Gulf of Mexico (Nelson and Carpenter 1968). The
primary species caught by bottom longlining during this cruise was tilefish (Lopholatilus
chamaeleonticeps), which was of no commercial importance at that time. In the late
271
19,0's7 another exploratory fishing program sought to develop a fishery for deep
dwelling golden crab (Otwell et al. 1984).
Key Species
Epipelagic fishes found in the commercial catch include dolphin, sharks (mako, silky,
and thresher), snake mackerels (escolar and oilfish), swordfish, tunas (bigeye, blackfin,
bluefin, and yellowfin), and wahoo. These species are widespread in the oceanic waters
of the Gulf, generally in the upper 200 m of the water column. Sharks, swordfish, and
tunas are the most important fishery species and are currently managed as a unit (Highly
Migratory Species) by the NMFS Office of Sustainable Fisheries, Highly Migratory
Species Division (NMFS 1999a). As such, these species are covered by a management
plan as mandated in the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Management Act of 1976. These
same species are sought by offshore or bluewater fishers.
Demersal fishes caught in deepwater include groupers (snowy, Warsaw, and

yellowedge), snappers (queen and silk), and tilefishes (blueline tilefish, goldface tilefish,
and tilefish). These are often referred to as reef fishes (i.e., GMFMC 1981). However,
this group of deeper dwelling fishes, particularly tilefishes and yellowedge grouper, may
be found on level clayey bottoms in 80 to 450 m water depths rather than on reefs or hard
bottom. Other deepwater snappers and groupers associate with hard bottom outcrops in
water depths ranging from 80 to 600 m.
Deepwater invertebrates important to commercial fisheries in Gulf of Mexico are royal

red shrimp and, to a much lesser extent, golden crab. Royal red shrimp occur over
specific substrata in different areas of the Gulf: blue-black terrigenous silt and silty clay
off the Mississippi Delta and calcareous mud off the Dry Tortugas (Roe 1969; GMFMC
1996). Peak abundance of royal red shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico occurs in the depth
range from 250 to 500 m (Roe 1969). Golden crab occur in a similar depth range as royal
red shrimp but prefer hard bottom and outcroppings such as the Florida Escarpment
(Lindberg and Lockhart 1993).
Fishing Gear Types
Epipelagic fishes are primarily caught with drifting longlines fished in the upper water
column. Longlines consist of a monofilament main line suspended in the water colunm
by regularly spaced buoys. The buoy lines are used to adjust the fishing depth of the
mainline that can range from 15 to 75 rn. Leaders with baited hooks are attached along
the length of the mainline as it is being deployed. Leaders range from 15 to 70 m long
(Russell 1993). From 1994 to 1998 sets by permitted longline vessels in the Gulf of
Mexico ranged from 3 to 103 km and averaged 60 km (NMFS 1999c). The number of
sets per month ranged from 77 to 502 and averaged 322 (Figure 10.3). In 1998 the
number of sets ranged from 77 to 391 and averaged 259. Longlines are often set near
oceanographic features such as fronts or downwellings often with the aid of sophisticated
onboard temperature sensors, depth finders, and positioning equipment. Figure 10.4
depicts the spatial distribution of longline sets in the northern Gulf of Mexico for 1998.
272
Figure 10.3. Monthly lengths (a) and numbers (b) of surface longline sets made in the Gulf of Mexico
from 1994 to 1998. Values shown are mean (doffed horizontal line), median (solid
horizontal line), tenth and ninetieth percentiles (error whiskers), and twenty4ifth and
seventy4ifth percentiles (gray box) (From: NMFS 1 999c).
273
9. B8 86
30'
N
2g -
27 -
26 -
24 -
..
-
.h4:-... .. I
.- 'b.Jr.
LEGEND
23
- Lease Ares
80 0 80 160 Kilometers
- Longne Set
22 -
I I
Q6 or Br 86
Figure 10.4. Spatial distribution of surface longline sets made in the Gulf of Mexico during 1998 (From: NMFS 1999c).
Snyder Fishes and Fisheries
The primary homeports for longline vessels are Dulac, Louisiana; Venice, Louisiana;
Destin, Florida; Madiera Beach, Florida; and Panama City, Florida (Tanaguchi 1987;
NMFS 1999a).
Deepwater demersaL'reef fishes are caught with bottom longlines, traps, and
hook-and-line. Most of the landings are produced by bottom longlines. The longlines are
similar to the surface longlines except that the lines are anchored to the bottom. Bottom
longlines are much shorter than surface longlines, usually less than 3 km, but can reach
30 km (GMFMC 1981).
Shrimp trawling is one of the most important commercial endeavors in the Gulf of
Mexico. However, most of the shrimp grounds lie well inshore of the 200 m isobath.
Trawling for royal red shrimp occurs in water depths of 400 to 500 m offshore Florida,
Alabama, and Texas (GMFMC 1996). Gear used for royal red shrimp is very similar to
shallow water shrimp trawling gear, but to accommodate the greater depths involved, all
components including winches, trawl doors, lines, and vessels must be heavier.
Golden crab gear consists of rectangular wire mesh traps that are attached in series along
a weighted mainline Most of the fishing for golden crab has been offshore of western
Florida. Very few fishers are involved in the golden crab fishery. In fact, so few that the
landings data cannot be released separately because of confidentiality (Josh Bennett,
NMFS, Miami, personal communication).
Landings Trends
Epipelagic fishes comprised most of the weight arid value of deepwater landings in the
Gulf of Mexico for 1998 (Tables 10.5 and 10.6). Yellowfin tuna represented 55% of the
value and 47% of the weight of all deepwater species landed. Swordfish, dolphin, and
wahoo collectively accounted for another 19% of the value and 21% of the weight.
Louisiana and Florida led Gulf Coastal states in terms of value and weight of epipelagic
species landed, followed by Texas. Alabama and Mississippi reported no landings of
epipelagic fish in 1998.
Demersal fish landings were dominated by yellowedge grouper, which accounted for
9.7% of the value and 8.8% of the weight of deepwater species landed in 1998. Two
tilefish species and snowy grouper contributed another 5% of the value and 7% of the
weight reported for deepwater species in 1998. Most 1998 reef fish catches were landed
in Louisiana and Florida. Alabama and Texas contributed little to the landings, and
Mississippi did not report any deepwater reef fish landings in 1998.
Invertebrate landings were restricted to specific states. A majority of the royal red
shrimp were landed in Alabama where 1998 landings weighed 123.5 mt and were valued
at $586,575. Florida and Texas reported only small fractions of this amount during 1998.
Florida was the only Gulf coastal state to report landings of golden crab in 1998 (133 mt
valued at $205,000).
275
Table 10.5. Weight (metric tons) of deepwater species landed in Gulf coastal states in
1998 (From: National Marine Fisheries Service 1 999b)
Statea
Species Grand
Alabama Florida Louisiana Texas Percent
Total
EPIPELAGIC FISHES
Tuna, yellowfin 237.6 1,341.8 137.4 1,716.8 47.0
Swordfish 162.1 306.2 41.2 509.5 14.0
Dolphin 157.8 30.7 2.4 190.9 5.2
Wahoo 17 62.6 2 81.6 2.2
Escolar 8.5 51.1 59.6 1.6
Shark, shortfin mako 6.1 35.8 41.9 1.1
Tuna, blackfln 12.4 20.9 2.9 36.2 1.0
Oilfish 4.8 10.1 14.9 0.4
Tuna, bluefin 1.3 12.2 13.5 0.4
Tuna, bigeye 4.4 8.9 133 0.4
Tuna, unc 5.7 5.7 0.2
Tuna, albacore 2.6 2.6 0.1
Shark, silky 2.3 2.3 0.1
Shark, longfin mako 1.4 1.4 0.0
Shark, thresher 1 1 0.0
Tuna, skipjack 0.5 0.5 0.0
REEF FISHES
Grouper, yellowedge 252.7 46.2 20.8 319.7 8.8
Tilefish 104.6 17.1 14.4 136.1 3.7
Grouper, snowy 58.9 3.1 62 1.7
Tilefish, blueline 58.5 58.5 1.6
Snapper, silk 46.8 0.7 47.5 1.3
Grouper, warsaw 13.7 15.1 9.9 38.7 1.1
Speckled bind 22.6 22.6 0.6
Snapper, queen 8.5 5.4 13.9 0.4
Brotula, bearded 5.9 4.7 10.6 0.3
Barrelfish 1.7 1.7 0.0
Hake,Atlantic,red & white 0.9 0.9 0.0
Tilefish, goldface 0.6 0.6 0.0
Bass, longtail 0.2 0.2 0.0
INVERTEBRATES
Shrimp, royal red 123.5 9.7 1.2 134.4 3.7
Crab, deepsea golden 113 -- 113 3.1
GRAND TOTAL 123.5 1,312.4 1,982.6 233.6 3,652.1
a
No landings of deepwater species were reported by Mississippi.
276
Table 10.6. Value (dollars) of deepwater species landed in Gulf coastal states in 1998
(From: National Marine Fisheries Service 1 999b)
Statea
Species Grand
Alabama Florida Louisiana Texas Percent
Total
EPIPELAGIC FISHES
Tuna, yellowfin 1,233,884 7,338,444 691,142 9,263,470 55.4
Swordfish 924,546 1,335,696 166,690 2,426,932 14.5
Dolphin 494,432 71,054 5,595 571,081 3.4
Wahoo 67,432 143,740 4,611 215,783 1.3
Tuna, bluefin 7,316 113,605 -- 120,921 0.7
Escolar -- 21,105 96,643 117,748 0.7
Tuna, bigeye 24,545 71,281 95,826 0.6
Tuna, blackfin 26,374 22,425 5,864 54,663 0.3
Shark, shortfinmako 15,315 32,911 -- 48,226 0.3
OiI'tish 11,855 22,332 34,187 0.2
Tuna, unc -- 23,555 23,555 0.1
Shark, silky 3,177 3,177 0.0
Tuna, albacore -- 3,079 3,079 0.0
Shark, longfin mako -- 2,256 2,256 0.0
Shark, thresher 1,055 -- 1,055 0.0
Tuna, skipjack 466 466 0.0
REEF FISHES
Grouper, yellowedge 1,277,115 254,121 93,160 1,624,396 9.7
Tilefish 269,540 53,062 38,725 361,327 2.2
Grouper, snowy 252,151 14,809 -- 266,960 1.6
Snapper, silk 216,501 3,064 219,565 1.3
Grouper, warsaw 48,663 67,973 35,603 152,239 0.9
Tilefish, blueline 112,586 -- 112,586 0.7
Speckled hind 85,537 85,537 0.5
Snapper, queen -- 37,801 23,181 60,982 0.4
Brotula, bearded 276 14,799 9,570 24,645 0.1
Barrelfish -6,194 -- -- 6,194 0.0
Hake,Atlantic,red & white -- 1,715 - 1,715 0.0
Tilefish, goldface 1,439 1,439 0.0
Bass, longtail 591 591 0.0
TNVERTEBRATES
Shrimp, royal red 586,575 30,778 -- 5,068 622,421 3.7
Crab, deepsea golden -- 205,440 - 205,440 1.2
GR4ND TOTAL 586,851 5,388,607 9,704,309 1,048,714 16,728,481
aNO landings of deepwater species were reported by Mississippi.
277
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283
Chapter 11: Socioeconomics
Linda A. Tobin
Introduction 285
The Importance of Time and Space 286
1-listory of Oil and Gas Development in the Gulf Coast States from 1900's Forward 287
A Natural Extension of Growth 290
The Past Thirty Years 292
Socioeconomic Effects of Oil and Gas Activity across Space 293
Community Impacts 294
Port Development 297
Impact of Oil and Gas Development on the Organization of Work 298
Labor Markets 298
Industrial and Business Linkages 300
Industrial Restructuring 301
Relationships to Physical Environment 302
Agriculture 303
Recreational Uses of the Coast and Oil 303
Industrial Development and Infrastructure 304
Port Fotirchon 306
Oil Spills and Hazardous Waste 307
Impacts on Families and Individuals 308
Oil and Louisiana Cajuns 309
Economic Impacts on Individuals and Families 310
Social Problems 312
Concentrated Work Scheduling 312
Impacts of Oil on Education, Migration, and Population 313
Conclusions 314
Literature Cited 3 15
Introduction
The socioeconomic effects of oil and gas development on communities, families, and
individuals in the Gulf of Mexico region are significant dimensions of the petroleum
industry. For decades, increased outer continental shelf (OCS) oil and gas production has
piqued the interests of researchers wanting to further their understanding of the impacts
this natural resource extraction has on coastal communities. Evolving from simple
land-based exploration and production platforms to technologically sophisticated offshore
structures produced significant social changes and responses over the years within those
regions most affected by oil and gas activities. The industry is dependent on a multitude
of suppliers (McKenzie et al. 1993), creating a vast interdependent network that has
consequently involved and impacted nearly every community within the region.
Recent deepwater Gulf of Mexico operations, in depths of water 300 m or greater, have
prompted sociologists to question whether impacts are comparable to, or different from,
those activities of more shallow offshore oil and gas operations. Determining the specific
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Tobin: Socioeconomic.s
socioeconomic impacts of deepwater development is difficult, if not impossible, because

many of the activities associated with deepwater exploration, drilling, and production are
integrated within regular offshore operations. Therefore, this chapter will include
literature on existing social, economic, and infrastructural conditions in places that are
likely to be affected by deepwater development, including those port and coastal
communities now impacted by offshore oil and gas activities, including deepwater. One
of the disadvantages of research on socioeconomic effects of offshore development
involves timing; too often research begins long after development starts and impacts
occur. 'When researchers are able to study regions, communities, families, and
individuals before these events, they have a more comprehensive framework in which to
make assessments. Therefore, we believe a broad review of socioeconomic effects
already identified in these regions will benefit and provide a better understanding of
potential impacts of deepwater development to communities in the future.
There is a rich variety of sources from which existing literature addresses the
socioeconomic impacts of oil and gas development in the Gulf of Mexico region. Social
impact assessments, funded by various agencies, carried out by social scientists, and
published in numerous scientific journals, serve as important sources of information.
Likewise, economic and community development initiatives provide researchers with
clues concerning internal and external forces of oil industry activities impacting
community sustainability. Technical reports presented at industry symposiums and
articles in trade publications contribute to our knowledge of offshore oil and gas
activities. Lastly, regional and local media reports sifted through to gain a sense of
heartfelt (and therefore sometimes biased) opinions commonly found in communities
where the potential to lose may be as great as the potential to gain complete the literature
review. Choosing to ignore any of this literature results in a picture a little less sharp, a
little less focused, than what is necessary if we are to understand, as completely as
possible, the socioeconomic impacts of oil and gas development on Gulf of Mexico
communities.
The Importance of Time and Space

Key to understanding what oil industry activity has meant to the Gulf Coast region is
knowing that oil and gas activity has developed unevenly in the Gulf of Mexico region,
both temporally and spatially, and with increased activity in deepwater drilling, will
continue to do so. Certain communities fortuitously benefited because of their location
relative to offshore activities and the acceptance by residents of such activities, while
other communities in other coastal regions either consciously chose not to participate, or
location prevented them from so doing. Fifty years of oil industry development in the
Gulf of Mexico has seen significant changes in activities, and technological
advancements and improvements. With time, diffusion and integration of oil industry
networks and activities have resulted in an almost complete envelopment of numerous
coastal communities and areas. This results in sometimes disparate, yet more frequently
often, similar social and economic consequences for communities within the region.
Thus it can be said that uneven economic development is a consequence of oil and gas
286
Tobin: Socioeconomics
industry involvement. And as national and worldwide demand for oil and gas grows,
social, cultural, and economic impacts increase in those areas.
However, the market dynamics of the petroleum industry are primarily controlled by the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a 13-nation cartel of mostly
Arabian Gulf nations created in the early 1970's. At that time, the OPEC nations
controlled almost 75% of the world's proven crude oil reserves (Hodel and Deitz 1993).
The OPEC oil embargo of 1973 strongly encouraged U.S. oil corporations toward
increased national oil exploration and production in an effort to reduce foreign oil
dependency. Ironically, petroleum conservation legislation was soon to follow, and a
nationwide recession in the early 1980's effectively laid the groundwork for a collapse in
the industry, the severity of which had never before been seen. Socioeconomic effects
were far-reaching arid long-lasting nationally, but even more so along the coastal states of
the Gulf of Mexico, which had gained the most economically, although not without cost,
but which also stood to lose the most. State and community leaders seeking
socioeconomic robustness within their areas began to realize that a strong presence of oil
and gas industry-related companies in their midst also meant that they were susceptible to
global forces over which they had no control. Regional economic sustainability, a goal to
which all state and community leaders aspired, appeared elusive.
A brief history of oil and gas development in the coastal states along the Gulf of Mexico
will provide a framework that will help us to understand how and why the industry
developed unevenly. It is interesting to note the differences between states in their
degree of acceptance of oil industry development and activities over the years, arid the
factors that played significant roles in those differences.
History of Oil and Gas Development in the

Gulf Coast States from 1900's Forward
The oil and natural gas industry has operated along the Gulf coast for nearly 100 years,
beginning with the push for overwater drilling at Caddo Lake, southeast of Shreveport,
Louisiana, in 1905. Several technical problems were solved at that location that had
significant implications later for the move offshore into the Gulf of Mexico. First,
downhole pressures encountered were beyond any previously experienced. Because of
inability to deal with the pressures effectively, blowouts and fires became common. This
led to the emergence of increasingly reliable blowout preventers, which would be
required for the high pressure reservoirs along the Gulf coast. Second, it was necessary
to be able to drill and produce without direct contact to the land. Construction engineers
developed pilings that could be driven deep enough into the lake bottom to provide solid
footing, on top of which platforms were constructed, while barges transported drilling
equipment and supplies to the drill site. One final technological innovation occurred, an
underwater pipeline connecting the producing wells to one of four gathering stations on
the lake (Brantly 1971; Cicin-Sain et al. 1992). That pipeline would be a precursor to the
vast network of pipelines that would later bring oil and gas from offshore production
platforms to onshore facilities.
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Tobin: Socloeconomics
Access to coastal Louisiana drilling prospects in the early 1900's was difficult due to the
marshy, swampy environment, and it was not until 1933 with the Texas Company's
introduction of the submersible drilling barge that exploration of marsh and shallow
coastal waters became cost efficient (Lankford 1971). The submersible barge could be
towed to the drilling site and sunk, providing a stable drilling base. After drilling was
completed, the barge was raised and used elsewhere. Consequently, the marine
environment became more accessible to exploration companies (Gramling 1996).
However, another dilemma arose as exploration and production moved into increasingly
isolated areas of coastal marshes and estuaries: the labor force necessary to perform those
activities found it increasingly difficult to corrmmte on a daily basis. Two organizational
responses emerged, significantly impacting the industry's organization of work. First,
because these isolated areas had no housing facilities available for the work crews,
companies built and provided living quarters situated near the work site. Later on, as
offshore oil activities proliferated, living quarters became part of the work site, built on
top of oil platforms situated over open water. Second, concentrated working periods
became common, in which the division of work was frequently broken down by the
week: one week at work and one week off This type of concentrated work scheduling
has become the model for offshore development and has increased in importance as
offshore activities have grown. Oil companies are eager to recoup their investment
expenditures, which are considerable, as quickly as possible (Gramling 1989, 1995,
1996). Therefore, as oil industry activities have progressed farther offshore, work
schedules have also been extended, with today's workers commonly staying 7, 14, or
21 days, with daily shifts of 12 hours on, 12 hours off. Because of this type of
concentrated work scheduling, offshore workers may not necessarily live in the Gulf
Coast region, instead choosing to make infrequent long distance commutes from their
homes to whatever site they leave from for offshore. Gramling and Brabant (1986), in
their analysis of labor survey data conducted in East St. Mary Parish, an area heavily
involved in offshore support activities, found that only 30% of the 381 offshore workers
in the sample lived within 100 miles of where they met to go offshore. This phenomenon
eliminated the necessity for geographic concentration of human settlement in the vicinity
of this type of economic activity (Gramling 1996).
Louisiana's coastal zone incorporates all land and water bottoms within the territorial sea
(about 3 miles offshore) and the adjacent shorelands, encompassing approximately 9.5
million acres in southern Louisiana, of which 5.2 million acres are water. Marshes
constitute 63% of the land area in the coastal zone, while swamps, forests, and
agricultural areas constitute 9% each (Lindstedt et al. 1991). The movement of oil
activities into the Louisiana marsh in the 1920's and 1930Ts was aided by the development
of the highway network along the natural levees, parallel to the waterways crossing the
marsh (Kriiffen 1968). Land use and other economic patterns were significantly modified
by the oil and gas industry. There was a pronoimced shift of population from scattered
rural homesites and abandonment of more isolated areas, to more permanent structured
locations and concentration in long "string town" settlements (Kniffen 1968; Davis and
Place 1983). Settlement density along the highways on the crests of the levees
approached that of urban row housing. Demand for land had a decisive and cumulative
288
impact on the land use and land cover patterns as the region's rural character was being
changed by phases of oil exploration and development. Towns grew on the crest of the
levees while adjacent lower extremes of the levees were cleared for agriculture. Bayou
Lafourche, from Donaidsonville to the Gulf of Mexico was known as the world's
longest street," referring to the importance of the bayou for communication,
transportation, and the focus of economic life (Emmer et al. 1992). These growing urban
areas helped provide a small, but growing local labor supply for expanding oil and gas
activities. Construction and support sites for the offshore industry grew in number as the
industry moved ahead. Activities built to serve oil industry development were
constructed on these higher lands next to navigable waterways and as close as possible to
the offshore platforms they were supporting. Most of these locations were already
occupied by trade centers, agricultural enterprises, and fishing communities. The more
inland parishes and municipalities were the locations for company offices, or the
manufacturing and processing of the oil industry hydrocarbons (Emmer et al. 1992).
Therefore, even small traditional communities were transformed into vital interconnected
pieces of an increasingly global industry network.
Practical solutions often solved immediate problems: extensive networks of canals were
cut through marshes to allow submersible drilling barges to operate (Cicin-Sain et al.
1992). Private landholders and the State of Louisiana allowed almost unlimited access
via barge to drill sites, and later, a network of pipeline corridors was laid through those
same wetlands. The Texas-Louisiana coast in the late 1940's was an ideal site for
production because the proximity of vast refining capacity and pipeline availability made
transportation to market easy. Chemical plants and refineries were built from Freeport,
Texas to Lake Charles, Louisiana and further east (Burleson 1999). By the late 1950's an
average of 100 production platforms a year were being placed offshore, in ever-deeper
water (Gramling and Freudenburg 1995).
The importance of the coastal zone to the oil industry in Louisiana cannot be overstated:
from 1926, when production was first recorded in Louisiana's coastal zone, until 1983,
58% of the state's oil and 47% of its gas was produced in that part of the state. More
than one-half of the state's leasing activity has been in the coastal zone, and state
revenues generated from oil and gas activities in that area totaled $12 billion of $28
billion during that same period. Offshore technology expanded rapidly in the late 1940's,
after a movable submersible marine drilling rig was successfully used in Breton Sound.
Innovations were constantly being developed, including surplus war ships that were used
as floating warehouses, drilling platforms, and crew quarters (Lindstedt 1991). By the
early 1950's huge inland submersibles were capable of drilling to 20,000 ft depths
(Aibright and McLaughlin 1952; McLaughlin 1953; Gramling 1996).
The 1950's and early 1960's were years of intensified exploration and development
activity as large and small operators were continually drilling in the wetlands (Davis and
Place 1983). From the mid 1960's through the early 1970's, the oil and gas fields of
Louisiana's coastal zone were extended. A massive network of manmade waterways or
canals, constructed to meet local needs, became a permanent landscape feature,
significantly enlarging fields and intensifying canals' regional impact (Lindstedt et al.
289
1991). Davis and Place (1983) note that marsh or swamp drainage ditches had been used
as early as the 1700's by farmers and settlers to drain potential crop and pasture land, and
as transportation routes; later, the cypress found in the swamps was accessed and
removed by logging companies through excavation of logging canals. The oil and gas
potential of the coastal zone served as an impetus to the industry to dredge more access
canals throughout the coastal lowlands. Those interconnecting canals served as
transportation waterways to oil and gas activities throughout the coastal zone. Movement
of oil from isolated wells to refineries also necessitated the building of extensive pipeline
networks throughout the coastal zone. As oil and gas production moved further offshore,
so did the pipeline, and by 1951, the first large-diameter pipeline for offshore production
was laid in the Gulf (Clark 1963; Gramling 1996).
Although Davis and Place (1983) found that early exploration in offshore waters was
erratic due to high development costs and legal problems, during the 1950's and 1960's
large fields continued to be discovered and developed. Between 1952 and 1960, 34% of
the wildcatting operations had been successful along Louisiana's coast, resulting in
further expansion of activities with increased socioeconomic effects. The first fabrication
yard solely for construction of fixed drilling platforms was established at Bayou Boeuf,
Louisiana, in 1955. Along with 13 others, this yard has produced most of the platforms
placed in leases off Texas and Louisiana. By 1955, 10 refineries, 14 petrochemical
plants, and 3 carbon black flims had located in southern Louisiana. Population and
employment patterns were changing in the coastal zone; for instance, between 1950 and
1960, the population in seven coastal parishes increased an average of 30% or about
7,800 people per parish (Bobo and Charlton 1974; Davis and Place 1983).
Production in many of the large fields was slowing by the 1970's, not only because new
fields had become harder to find, but discoveries were smaller. The coastal zone's
production peaked at 513 million barrels in 1970, and rapidly declined thereafter. Less
than onefourth of its peak production was being produced by 1983.
A Natural Extension of Growth
Residents of the central and western Gulf have in most instances generally accepted oil
industry activities in their areas. This is because offshore activity in the Gulf, particularly
in Louisiana, occurred as a gradual extension of landbased gas and oil production
through the coastal marshes and into ever deeper offshore waters. Growth was
incremental, and focused on the solution of local problems for local use, largely isolated
from mainstream economy and industrial development. It did not appear suddenly, or
appear as a harm, threatening to the region, but rather as a natural evolution (Cicin-Sain
et al. 1992). Texans, already accustomed to producing oil and gas fields within their
State, saw the development of the offshore oil industry as another facet of a burgeoning
industry.
At least in coastal Louisiana, the economy had always been traditionally based on
extractive activities. At the turn of the century, the mainstay of the local economy
included furs, shrimp, fish, oysters, cypress lumber, moss, waterfowl, and crawfish.
290
Marsh inhabitants consumed marsh products and marketed them to settlements in the
region. Oil production was seen as just one more product from this rich resource-laden
environment that would benefit the people. Comeaux (1972) notes that prior to World
War II, most coastal Louisiana extractive activities occurred in the marsh and swamps.
Not until the 1950's was the current major commercial species, shrimp, known to be
available, in the open Gulf. Temporally, the significance of this was that oil and gas
development arid fisbing/shrimping grew up together. Also, during the 1930's and
1940's, there was no general environmental awareness, no conception of the marsh as a
potentially vulnerable ecosystem (Gramling 1996). The canals and channels carved
through the marshes that solved problems of accessibility and served as transportation
routes were seen as solutions, and not as having future environmental consequences.
Today most would agree that those canals and channels, while beneficial to the
development of the oil industry, have also played a role in the loss of coastal wetlands.
One of the most important issues in the development of the offshore oil industry involved
the dispute over subsurface land ownership, with coastal states and the Federal
government vying for ownership of the petroleum-rich environment, particularly in
waters beyond the 3-mile state limit By the early 1950's, Louisiana and Texas had
already sold over 300 leases in the Gulf beyond 3 miles offshore, and most of that was off
the coast of Louisiana. Regardless, the 1953 Submerged Lands Act gave the states title
to offshore lands that were within approximately 3 miles of their coastline, and
subsurface lands beyond 3 miles fell under the ownership of the federal government. The
first OCS lease sale was held in the Gulf off the coast of Louisiana in 1954, followed
shortly thereafter by a lease sale off Texas, and in 1959, off the coast of Florida. The
Secretary of the Interior leased through competitive bidding those offshore lands beyond
the 3-mile limit to companies for the purpose of developing oil, gas, salt, and sulphur
resources (Gramling 1995). Offshore development was proceeding along the western and
central sections of the Gulf of Mexico, but a different story was developing in the waters
of the eastern Gulf, off the beaches of Florida.
Development and acceptance of offshore oil industry activities along the eastern side of
the Gulf of Mexico, has been elTatic, controversial, and at least in state waters,
nonexistent since 1962. Historically, opportunities for economic activities were more
limited in Florida marshlands than Louisiana because the wetlands in Florida were
different. Agricultural opportunities along the natural levees were constrained by the
absence of rich alluvial soils common to Louisiana, and the ecosystem of the Florida
marshes differed in the types of edible foods found, and building materials available
(Gramling and Freudenburg 1995). Consequently, there was no natural extension of
marsh activities into the Gulf because resource extraction in the region never reached the
magnitude of that in Louisiana. The growth and subsequent economic importance of the
Florida tourism industry, particularly along the coastal waters, was not compatible with
oil industry activities. Most Floridians along the Gulf of Mexico do not welcome nor
encourage those activities in their waters. Today there is some small production in
federal waters in the Eastern Planning Area of the Gulf of Mexico, but that is not off the
coast of Florida, rather Alabama.
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Tobin: Socioeconomjcs
The economic bases of the majority of coastal states (Louisiana, Texas, and to a lesser
extent Alabama and Mississippi) have benefited from oil activities in the Gulf of Mexico.
History of oil industry development has shown not only must the industry find oil
offshore and move it ashore, everything required to operate the over-water facility needs
to be delivered to an onshore support site, and transported to the platform (Davis and
Place 1983). Therefore, a huge support system has developed over time, one that today
essentially keeps all operations on schedule. Fabrication yards, refineries, terminals, boat
docks, airports, helicopter bases, repair facilities, shipyards, and pipe storage areas are all
essential to offshore operations. Communities along the industry's corridor became bases
of operation, attracting numerous types of businesses involved in meeting the needs of
the onshore and offshore operators. Expansion of these support facilities stimulated the
local economies and prompted an increase in residential, commercial, industrial, and
utility land uses, impacting nearly every community in the region (Applied Technology
Research Corporation 1994). In fact, there are those who believed it was difficult to find
one community, at least in Louisiana, that had not profited by the exploration and
development of the hydrocarbon reserves off the state's coast.
However, the oil industry, not unlike other extractive industries, is cyclical in nature.
This means there are oscillations in the price of oil and natural gas, and changes in
demand; it is an international industry characterized by episodic fluctuations of advance
and decline conditions in the market, and eventual exhaustion of the resource (McKenzie
et al. 1993). Decisions that govern oil exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico
are made by companies that operate within the larger global political economy of energy.
It involves high levels of risk, and has a history of domination by large integrated
companies able to take on those risks, while being regulated by government (Laska et al.
1993). Therefore, economic development and social stability in oil-dependent regions of
the coast depend on the continuation of profitable oil prices.
The Past Thirty Years
The 1970's witnessed a dramatic increase in exploratory drilling in a climate of rising oil
and gas prices. The 1973-1974 oil embargo by the Arab members of the OPEC served as
a tremendous stimulant for further offshore development. Rapid employment growth and
significant income gains were not uncommon for any community involved in oil
activities; it was a time of prosperity for the region. But there were also socioeconomic
problems associated with this period of time. Population expansions of many of the Gulf
of Mexico communities could be traced to the growth in demand for oil and gas
(McKenzie et al. 1993), but these were accompanied by strains on existing transportation
networks, community infrastructures, and the delivery of social services. National
publications brought news of employment opportunities in the Gulf coast region, and a
transient labor force arrived en masse, problematic in itself. The high-paying jobs so
often associated with oil industry activities made it difficult for Gulf coast economies to
diversify, because businesses with lower profit margins could not compete for labor.
Gramling and Freudenburg (1990) demonstrated that in terms of employment, 90% of the
variance in Louisiana coastal parish local employment could be explained by national and
international petroleum indicators, a sure sign of the dependency they had on oil and gas
292
activities. By 1980, many offshore operators assumed that $40 per barrel of oil was a
permanent reality and that large amounts of offshore acreage were desirable at nearly any
price (LeBlanc 1980).
This was not to be. In the early 1980's, the economy of the Gulf coast region went into a
tailspin. Falling crude oil prices and reduced demand for petroleum products created a
crude oil glut in 1982 that hurt exploration both onshore and offshore. When there is a
decline in oil and gas prices, oil and gas activities follow suit. Communities involved in
these activities, particularly those whose economic base is primarily connected to the
industry, experience economic downturns that can be difficult to overcome. Across the
region, job growth slowed, and unemployment rates swelled to well above the U.S.
average. Gramling (1996) noted that unemployment levels in some parishes went from a
low of about 4% to a high of 20% by the mid-to-late 1980Ts. The national savings and
loan crisis of the late 1980's gained fuel from the oil price collapse, because banks and
S&Ls with outstanding loans to oil companies, and real estate developers who borrowed
to build during the oil boom, were caught short by the rapidity of economic decline.
Anyone involved in the housing industry was hurt by employment declines and
outinigration (Laska et al. 1993). The Gulf coast was feeling the effects of a regional
recession.
Since that time, the 1990's has seen the oil industry recover from its lows of 1986, and the
Deepwater Royalty Relief Act of 1998, along with technological advancements has
enabled oil exploration and development to become more economically feasible in waters
of 300 m or greater beyond the continental shelf. In 1998, according to MMS, deepwater
production was 36% of the total Gulf of Mexico OCS activity, but this is anticipated to
greatly increase over the years.
In reviewing briefly the history of oil and gas development in the Gulf coast region, it is
obvious that dramatic economic and social changes have occurred as oil exploration
marched inextricably into the Gulf of Mexico. In some communities, as we shall see,
cultural traditions have been irrevocably altered, while concurrently, new community
patterns were being forged in newly created "boomtowns." The socioeconomic benefits
to the Gulf coast region have been beyond the wildest dreams of most people, yet at the
same time, they have levied a price on those communities. In the next pages, we shall
examine more closely the impacts of oil and gas development on the coastal region of the
Gulf of Mexico.
Socioeconomic Effects of Oil and Gas Activity across Space

When we examine the activities of oil development and its socioeconomic effects across
the central and western Gulf of Mexico region, we notice that the impacts within and
between communities vary. Not surprisingly, they appear to be greater in rural coastal
communities that were traditional settlements, and which were transformed into various
types of staging areas and support sites. Of course, few communities within these coastal
areas were left untouched by the development of the oil and gas industry. Louisiana, the
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primary location in the continental U.S. for offshore exploration, has accepted and
welcomed the oil industry as playing a pivotal role in the lives of thousands of
individuals and dozens of communities across the state. The value of Louisiana oil and
natural gas produced in 1954 was about $5.4 million; by 1980 the value had risen to more
than $11.4 billion (Manuel 1984). Like Louisiana, Texas has always actively encouraged
and promoted the development of the offshore oil industry. By 1996, Texas was
producing one-third of the nation's natural gas, the majority of those reserves lying
offshore or along the coastal plain, and one-fourth of the nation's oil, a significant
amount occurring in the coastal zone (U.S. Department of Commerce 1996).
One important point must be made when assessing the socioeconomic impacts of oil
development along the Gulf of Mexico, particularly in the 1980's. McKenzie et al.
(1993) found that the socioeconomic effects of non-OCS (state) activities and those of the
OCS are inextricably mixed due to the high number of businesses and industries that
serve both sectors of the oil and gas industry. That being argued, some of their analyses
showed that non-OCS production was a better predictor of some socioeconomic change
in the 1980's than was OCS production. They further argue that though there is a general
perception that OCS declines severely impacted the U.S. economy in the 1980's, there
was, at the same time, a general decline in the economy as a whole across the nation,
suggesting that factors other than OCS activity, or oil activity in general, may have
contributed to the Gulf Coast decline.
Community Impacts
One of the primary characteristics of any resource extraction, such as oil or natural gas, is
that extractive activities must locate where the resource is. These activities may or may
not take place in a populated area with existing infrastructure and support sectors; if not,
provisions must be made to support the primary activity. Frequently this involves the
rebuilding of physical, economic, and social environments in those locations (Gramling
1996). This rebuilding was particularly evident in Louisiana's traditional communities in
the coastal zone from the very early stages of oil activity. However, there are
consequences associated with rebuilding efforts, and one of those consequences that has
been noted over the years is loss of community flexibility. This means that human and
financial capital are concentrated too narrowly on the primary extractive and support
sectors, and therefore not easily transferable to new diversified activities. Economic
diversification contributes to community sustainability. 'When capital, either human or
financial, is constrained within a specific type of industrial activity, communities become
vulnerable to fluctuations that occur within that industry, including the possibility of
slowdowns. Other rebuilding consequences may be the creation of new support sectors
that use up or destroy local resources; and finally, high-paying j ohs in the extractive
sector create intense labor competition, so that once again, the introduction of alternative
economic activities becomes difficult. When the new extractive industry declines or
ceases to exist, the community frequently finds itself inflexible and overspecialized, a
condition referred to as overadaptation" (Freudenburg and Gramling 1992).
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An example of this could be seen in Morgan City, Louisiana. Located in East St. Mary
Parish, Morgan City was a traditional corrimunity with an extractive economy derived
from basin and marsh resources (cypress lumber, furs, alligators, crawñsh, shrimp, etc).
Because of its location, bounded by the Atchafalaya River, a major distributary of the
Mississippi River, which intersects the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway close by, before
traveling to the Gulf of Mexico 20 miles away, Morgan City was ideal for the
development and support of offshore oil (Freudenburg and Gramling 1994). The first
offshore activities took place just south of East St. Mary Parish, which helped to establish
its importance in the industry in the coming years. It became a staging area for a
multitude of offshore activities, and the demand for land increased as sites were
increasingly needed for fabrication yards and support facilities. To accommodate the
expansion, reclaimed swamp was chosen (Stallings et al. 1977) because it was
conveniently close to water, and cheaper than agricultural land. Between 1955 and 1975,
a total of 373 new businesses was added to the list of firms located in both Morgan City
and Houma, Louisiana, each year (Davis and Place 1983). By 1970 the population of
East St. Mary Parish had increased by 200%, from a stable number of 12,796 in 1940 to
36,227 (U.S. Depatlinent of Commerce 1940, 1970). This was attributable to the
development of the oil industry.
At the time large-scale development of offshore oil began in the 1950's, Morgan City was
the self-proclaimed "shrimp capital of the world." The offshore oil activities brought
tremendous employment opportunities, and jobs, even those requiring few skills, paid
well. If one job didn't work out, there were always others to be had. Consequently,
those who had worked the shrimp boats or participated in the shrimping industry turned
to the oil industry for jobs that were guaranteed to pay well, as opposed to the type of
livelihood they knew so well that entailed hard work but no promise of financial security.
Shrimp boats were converted to crew boats by owners wanting to get a share of the
economic "good times" associated with the development of offshore oil. But by the mid
1980's, when the oil slowdown had hit the area hard, those same residents gave thought to
returning to shrimping as a source of livelihood, only to discover the area no longer had a
resident shrimp fleet or processing facility (Gramling and Brabant 1986). This
phenomenon in Morgan City, East St. Mary Parish, was a classic case of overadaptation.
Morgan City was impacted in other ways besides increases in employment opportunities
and population growth. Housing shortages were acute, public utilities services couldn't
keep up with demand, arid the numbers of medical facilities weren't adequate for the size
of the population. By the mid 1 970Ts, the violent crime rate in Morgan City was two or
three times the average rate for U.S. cities of comparable size (Cicin-Sain et al. 1992).
There could be found labor camps in Morgan City, which housed transients lured to the
area by the promises of guaranteed jobs. The owners of the camps fed them, transported
them to and from the work sites, and exacted exorbitant prices from them for services
provided (Brabant 1993). Oil and gas extraction brought economic prosperity to many in
the Morgan City area, but it was accompanied by significant social and economic
changes as well.
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Morgan City was just one community of many in a vast region along the Gulf coast that
felt the impacts of oil industry development. A multitude of staging areas and support
sites spread throughout the coastal region as the industry expanded. Gramling (1996)
points out that wherever road or rail met waterways, local docks and staging areas
appeared. What was important was location. Places like Intracoastal City and Venice,
both located in Louisiana, had virtually no notable populations in the 1950's, but because
of their proximity to the Gulf, became important staging areas without ever developing
significant permanent populations. During the 1970's, one could drive down to
Intracoastal City, Louisiana, and view a large number of bustling offshore support
enterprises, but only a handful of permanent housing was seen. Oyster shell parking lots
were filled with vehicles, a testament to the frenetic pace of the oil industry activities.
According to a local business owner, when the slowdown came in the 1980's, Intracoastal
City almost shut down completely, and there was little activity for a long period of time.
Lafayette, Louisiana, located in the heart of the "Oil Patch," and only about 30 miles
from the Gulf, was not always tied to the oil and gas industry, but rather developed first
as a railroad town, and then later functioned as a transportation center for farming
communities in the area. Because of its location, the rapid development of oil activities
created growth in Lafayette, particularly in administrative activities. It offered urban
amenities that smaller communities could not offer, and so became headquarters location
for many petroleum corporations. Between 1940 and 1980, the city of Lafayette grew
from a population of 19,210 to 81,861, an increase of 327%, according to U.S.
Department of Commerce (1940, 1980). The oil industry became so important to the
economy of the city that Lafayette became the focus of much media attention. National
publications targeted conspicuous consumer wealth brought on by oil industry
development. The University of Southwestern Louisiana, in an attempt to accommodate
students working offshore, offered classes that met just every other week, capitulating to
the demands of students with concentrated work schedules. When the slowdown in the
industry came, unemployment in Lafayette Parish rose to 9.6% in 1986. Property values
dropped, business failures were not uncommon, and there was high outmigration
(Gramling and Freudenburg 1990). Over the 1984-1989 period that covered the worst
years of the oil bust, Lafayette Parish lost over one-third of its total revenues.
Many coastal Texas communities were significantly impacted by oil industry

development as well. The discovery of onshore oil east of Houston, Texas in 1901 and
subsequent discoveries closer to the city set the stage for the city to become a major oil
center. By 1919, three-quarters of Gulf coast oil was coming from fields in the Houston
area, and by the mid-1930s, Houstonians were proudly labeling their city the "oil capital
of the world." The East Texas oil field, developed in the 1930's, had 26,000 wells on it
by 1939 (Feagin 1985).
Between the 1940's and 1980's prosperity continued in the greater Houston area. There
was substantial development of support industries linked to oil exploration and
production, including refineries, oil tools and services, and petrochemical plants. In the
early 1980's about 35% of the jobs in the area were connected directly to the oil and gas
industry (Feagin 1990). Houston was chosen over Galveston, and Beaumont, as an oil
296
and gas center by oil-related companies, according to Feagin (1990), because it was less
exposed on the coast to hurricanes, and also had the necessaiy inftastructural support. It
was a major port due to having a ship channel deep enough for large ships, and was a
center for 17 railroads. By the 1960!s and 1970's, Houston's role in the oil economy had
become central in research and operations in exploration, production, refining, and
marketing. Thirty-four of the 35 largest oil companies had major office and plant
facilities in the Houston area, and at least 400 other major oil and gas companies also
were located there, along with hundreds of oil-related service companies. In 1984, 60%
of Texas oil industry onshore personnel reported to work at sites in the greater Houston
area (Centaur Associates, Inc. 1986).
As in Louisiana, the economic benefits from the oil industry were substantial in Houston
until the slowdown. Unparalleled prosperity was enjoyed until the 1980's, when the most
serious economic downturn in that city's history occurred. Between 1981 and 1986
Houston lost more than 100,000 energy-related industrial jobs. The unemployment rate
rose to 9.7% in 1983, recovered somewhat, and then late in 1986 the Chamber of
Commerce estimated the unemployment rate had risen to nearly 11%. Besides serious
job losses, Houston experienced housing foreclosures, increased office vacancy rates, and
outmigration in the 1980's (Feagin 1990).
Studies of local economies like Morgan City and Lafayette, Louisiana, and Houston,
Texas provide examples of oil and gas divisions of labor over space. Employment within
the industrial sectors of extraction, manufacturing, or services is associated with different
working conditions, opportunities, and job outcomes (McGranahan 1988; Lobao 1990).
Houston, and Lafayette on a much smaller scale, developed into administrative
headquarters for both major and independent oil companies. Located in different states,
both cities demanded educated labor that could be assured of high wages, which is still
true today. Demand for labor in Morgan City was considerably different. Highly paid
jobs resulted from complex manufacturing needs of oil and gas fabrication yards.
Educational attainment was not important; the ability to become skilled at one's job, was.
Another community in Louisiana, Abbeville, appeared to have a strong presence of
producer services, and still does. A center for oil field logistics and operations, Abbeville
remained reasonably resilient throughout the industry slowdown in the 1980's. These
patterns of industrial organization continue to significantly impact the socioeconomic
conditions of Gulf coast local economies.
Port flevelopment
As the industry grew, communities wanting to attract the fabrication and construction
industries associated with offshore activities and thus produce local jobs approved
long-term bond issues for the construction of the marine equivalent of local industrial
parks, or small ports contiguous to the waterfront near the community, committing local
resources to the continuation of the offshore sector. Conversion of existing facilities,
such as dock space, significantly altered the environment. Port development was and still
is a major goal of most coastal communities. Texas port authorities believe the
development of one or more deepwater ports along the Texas coast, at locations such as
297
Houston and Corpus Christi, would have a substantial impact in the area because
deepwater port facilities would reduce both tanker traffic in Texas' bays and estuaries
and the frequency of lightering operations in the Gulf of Mexico. This would reduce the
risk of major and chronic oil spills (U.S. Department of Commerce 1996).
Studying the spatial development of the oil and gas industry across the Gulf of Mexico
coastal region allows us to understand how and why the industry evolved as it did.
Because of this differential spatial development, community and regional socioeconomic
effects have also differed. Subsequently, among the many effects that can be observed is
the impact offshore development has had on the organization of work.
Impact of Oil and Gas Development on the Organization of Work

Because of the long-distance commuting made possible by concentrated work schedules,
a widely dispersed work force in the offshore industry has been created. In a 1980 labor
survey of a Louisiana parish heavily involved in offshore activities, not only was it found
that only about 30% of the 381 offshore workers surveyed lived within 100 miles of
where they met to go offshore, 70% of them had been commuting long distances for over
10 years, while they continued to live in communities far from the staging site (Gramling
1980; Gramling and Brabant 1986). These concentrated work schedules are believed to
be particularly beneficial in geographical regions experiencing high unemployment,
because they effectively spread the unemployment lowering effects of new jobs over a
wider region. As has already been pointed out, from the perspective of a petroleum
corporation, temporal and spatial management strategy of concentrated work scheduling
made the exploitation of remote sites, or resources, more profitable (Gramling 1989,
1996). Later on, as offshore development spread globally, experienced offshore workers
from the Gulf of Mexico were used in those operations, with lengthened work schedules.
Initially, this relieved corporations of having to train inexperienced work crews, until
those countries involved in oil and gas extraction passed legislation that among other
requirements, mandated quotas for number of local residents to be used in oil and gas
development.
Labor Markets
One of the limitations on the expansion of oil industry development is the availability of
a labor force. One of the characteristics of the offshore labor force observed by some in
1979 was that most of the new workers in the entry-level categories received no formal
training before going offshore; rather they received on-the-job training after they had
arrived on the platform. There was a high rate of turnover reported among the personnel
of the drilling contractors, marine service companies, and food service firms. Workers
were quicidy finding out that offshore work was demanding, dangerous, and the
schedules were unlike any they had known. Additionally, being away from family and
friends for extended periods of time convinced some workers that offshore disadvantages
overshadowed financial gains. This created a labor force composed of a high proportion
of new and inexperienced workers at any given time, which was not only costly to
298
companies, it also affected issues of safety. Personnel managers complained of labor that
was unskilled and undisciplined. This rapid development of the offshore industry in the
1970's, along with high rate of employee turnover, resulted in a huge demand for workers
in an industry dealing with a chronic shortage of workers (Perez 1979). By the late
1970's and early 1980's, the offshore oil industry supported dozens of small independent
companies wanting to cash in on the rapidly escalating oil prices, but found it difficult to
find enough qualified, experienced people available to fill the positions that were waiting
(Hodel and Deitz 1993).
Interestingly, some of those same observations and complaints are being made today. In
a recently concluded coastal Louisiana oil and gas labor demand study (forthcoming),
on-site managers and personnel administrators recognized and expressed concern about a
number of issues that are similar to those of the 1970's: the availability of skilled or
certified workers, the increasing emphasis on industry safety, the need to keep turnover
rates down, and a growing frustration with new employees wanting high wages for less
work. On-the-job training is still recognized as an important part of the labor process iii
some sectors.
The rapid growth of oil industry activities required an immediate labor force. Yet from
the 1970's until the early 1980's, and then again in the mid 1990's until recently,
observations have been made that a shortage of available workers seems to be a chronic
problem in times of increasing activity. To meet their growing needs, companies
involved in the offshore oil industry had to attract potential workers from afar, rather than
rely solely on local labor. This was the situation regardless of whether they were
offshore workers with concentrated work schedules, or onshore laborers needed for oil
industry activities working regular schedules. It was therefore necessary for a labor force
to migrate to the Gulf Coast region. Historically, economic factors have been shown to
overshadow social factors as the major causes of migration between different areas.
Migration is a function of "push" and "pull" forces: if there is a lack of economic
opportunities in the sending area, there is a push, and the pull is the presence of economic
opportunities in the receiving area (Maruggi and Wartenberg 1996). Activities along the
upper Texas and Louisiana coasts presented economic opportunities in the way of
plentiful jobs at high wages, making that region very attractive. For example, welders
were being paid $18 an hour in Morgan City's fabrication yards in the mid-1970's, and
fabrication companies still couldn't hire enough to meet demand (Freudenburg and
Gramling 1992).
Labor supply problems notwithstanding, by 1981 the offshore oil industry in Louisiana
provided direct employment to 41,781 persons. Additionally, it was indirectly
responsible for the creation of 83,500 other jobs in construction, maintenance and repair,
retail and wholesale trade, business services, and 34 other economic sectors. It was
estimated in this same study that for every new job created in the Louisiana oil and gas
industry, two new jobs were created in other sectors of the state's economy (Scott 1981).
The American Petroleum Institute (1984) estimated that in 1982 Texas employed
292,5222 persons in the oil and natural gas producing segment of the industry, of which a
substantial portion worked in activities related to offshore oil production.
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TobIn: Socioeconomics
These types of economic advantages for labor persisted until the severe slowdown started
in the 1980's, when companies associated with domestic oil development began to lay off
significant numbers of workers. McKenzie et al.'s (1993) study of coastal Texas,
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama found that between 1982 and 1986, the number of
mining industry jobs, of which oil and gas were predominant, decreased by 28.63%.
Some who had migrated to the region left the area, and inmigration nearly ceased. A
significant number of those who stayed in the Gulf of Mexico coastal regions eventually
found new employment in other industrial sectors. This employment was to have serious
consequences for the industry when it rebounded in the early 1990's.
When the industry began to turn around in the early 1990's, there was again an increasing
demand for labor. This time, it was more difficult to attract workers. Many of those who
had worked in the oil and gas industry previously, and experienced the slowdown of the
1980's had no desire to reenter an industry that they believed was too volatile.
Respondents in a forthcoming 1997 study of the socioeconomic sustainability of a small
Louisiana coastal community in a parish significantly involved in the oil and gas industry
frequently reported economic or financial responses during the slowdown of the 1980's as
involving diversification of economic activities, or obtaining employment in an industry
other than oil and gas. Regardless of economic opportunities, there appeared to be a
reluctance (at least in this study) to give up what they considered stable employment, for
the roller coaster ride associated with oil and gas employment. Interestingly, the mid
1990's shortage of skilled workers in shipbuilding was so extreme that firms offered
workers from outside the area temporary housing and mimicked the practice of the
offshore oil and gas industry with a 7 days onI7 days off work schedule (Pulsipher et al.
1998).
Industrial and Business Linkages

While the industry was rapidly developing, resources associated with human and social
capital, skills, knowledge, experience, teamwork, and networks of supply and distribution
and physical infrastructure began to interact and develop quickly as well (Gramling
1996). Adaptation occurred within oil and gas company organizations, while
independent offshore supply companies quickly emerged. Oil and gas production
companies did not, nor could not, operate without a multitude of suppliers. Small
businesses within the oil and gas industry wanted to fill particular niches within the
industry for which they felt there was a need, so there was a tendency toward
specialization. Existing businesses adapted in a variety of ways, which might have
included refitting their equipment to meet the needs of the industry. For example, there
were mechanic shops that shifted attention to a new oil-related consumer base and spent
considerable amounts of money on equipment to become marine diesel repair facilities.
New specialty businesses opened to accommodate the growing industry's needs. Linked
activities, upstream (those that supply the primary activity) and downstream (those that
use the product produced by the primary activity) generated jobs and capital. Industry
growth created a need for thousands of vendors along the Gulf coast that derived at least
a portion of their income from offshore operations, and this is still true today (Applied
300
Technology Research Corporation 1994). In the mid 1950's in southern Louisiana, there
were 1,187 principal businesses serving the oil and gas industry. An analysis of
telephone directories in the early 1970's identified over 3,500 businesses in coastal
Louisiana, directly serving the petroleum industry, an increase of more than 100
businesses per year (Davis and Place 1983).
During the 1970's in particular, the emphasis in the industry was on speed, not costs. The
quicker a company could supply equipment, products, or labor, the faster the industry
grew. A basic rule of economics states that when the demand for a product or service is
high, such as skilled labor, the result is higher wages. This was certainly the case in the
growth of offshore activities, where profit margins were so high companies did not need
to be concerned with expenses or becoming expert business managers. It was a
phenomenon remarked upon by one respondent in a 1992 study, "People made money in
spite of themselves" (Freudenburg and Gramling 1992).
Today oil and gas exploration and production companies operating in the Gulf are usually
classified as either major corporations or independent companies. Major corporations are
integrated or engaged in all phases of the industry: exploration, production,
transportation, manufacturing and refining, and retailing. They have the most money, the
largest assets, revenues, and reserves, and employ the most people. Independent
companies are comparatively small and vary in the degree of integration, from relatively
little downstream integration activities, to a great deal. A 1995 study found that
nonintegrated independent businesses were becoming more involved in the offshore Gulf,
while major and integrated independent companies were maintaining a steady rate of
activity or reducing their involvement in the Gulf (Seydlitz et al. 1995). Businesses'
activities tended toward becoming more involved in downstream integration operations.
The same study also found that there were more companies involved in Gulf activities in
1994 than 1986, but major and large integrated independent corporations reportedly had
smaller workforces in 1994 as compared to the mid 1980's. About 66% of the study's
respondents reported an increase in the use of outside contractors or service companies
for various activities, while more joint ventures existed between companies (Seydlitz et
al. 1995).
Industrial Restructuring
Since the mid 1980's, a major restructuring of the oil and gas industry in the Gulf of
Mexico has occuned. Cost cutting, along with financial and organizational restructuring,
has occurred among integrated oil companies, but these same measures in varying
degrees have been taken by most companies that survived the slowdown of the mid
1980's. Measures to reduce costs have included reductions in the number of management
layers, and tighter control by headquarters over budgets of home offices, and field
offices. Remote monitoring and control technology for offshore production platforms has
made possible reductions of offshore maintenance and production staff. The proliferation
ofjoint ventures between two or more companies, particularly in deepwater drilling, has
been seen as a way for each company involved to reduce financial risks by sharing those
risks and their own resources (Laska et al. 1993).
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Restructuring in the oil service industry, distinct from the integrated and independent oil
companies, has been consolidating since 1983 through bankruptcies, mergers, and
takeovers. Much of the work offshore is perfonned by subcontractors, whose tasks
include drilling, processing drilling mud, well service, and workover. Among others, oil
service companies are engaged in transportation (vessels and helicopters), supply (mud,
tubing, catering), rental, and manufacturing (metal fabrication and ship and boat building
and repair). Because service company employment is dependent on the exploration and
production budgets of offshore oil producers, any reductions in exploration and
production budgets of oil companies contribute to further consolidation (Laska et al.
1993).
Relationships to Physical Environment

The development of the oil and gas industry along the Gulf coast, by its very nature, has
significantly impacted the natural and physical environments of the region. Any
extractive activity involving a natural resource must by necessity be interconnected to its
surroundings, whether earthly or manmade. The effects of this relationship are numerous
and varied. Early offshore oil and gas activities required navigation channels and canals
to be dredged for oil and gas extraction, dramatically altering the hydrology of the coastal
area. According to the Texas Coastal Management Program in 1996, construction of oil
and gas exploration and production facilities were believed to have disturbed or destroyed
wetlands, seagrass communities, and oyster reefs in Texas (U.S. Department of
Commerce 1996), arid the Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Conservation and Restoration
Task Force noted in 1998 that although dredge and fill activities for petroleum
exploration, pipelines, and canal developments had by that time almost completely
halted, those activities directly and indirectly contributed to marsh destruction (Louisiana
Coastal Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Task Force and the Wetlands
Conservation and Restoration Authority 1998).
A growing environmental concern among coastal states of the Gulf coast region has been
the high rate of coastal land loss. Within the last 50 years in Louisiana alone, coastal
land loss rates have exceeded 40 square miles per year, and in the 1990's the rate has been
estimated to be between 25 and 35 square miles each year, or about 80% of the coastal
wetland loss in the entire continental United States (Louisiana Coastal Wetlands
Conservation and Restoration Task Force and the Wetlands Conservation and Restoration
Authority 1998). Factors that cause marshes to change to open water are complex,
combining natural processes like subsidence and hurricanes with human actions. Along
with loss of the acres of coastal marshes, swamps, and islands, goes the loss of functions
and values associated with the wetlands: commercial harvests of fisheries, furbearers and
alligators; recreational fishing and hunting, and ecotourism; habitats for threatened and
endangered species; water quality improvement; navigation corridors and port facilities;
flood control; and the intangible value of land passed from generation to generation.
These losses affect public usage, but more significantly, they are immeasurable in terms
of cultural and heritage losses.
302
Regardless of reasons for coastal land loss, federal, state, and local community agencies
along the Gulf coast not only recognize the importance of preserving and protecting
coastal resource, but are taking measures to slow the erosion process. Loss of this natural
habitat threatens the resilience of commercial fisheries and seafood, endangering not only
that industry, but the economic sustainability of coastal communities.
Agriculture
Oil development activities have impacted the agricultural community as well. Navigation
channels and canals that were once dredged to expedite oil and gas activities have
allowed saltwater intrusion into the rich alluvial land along the Louisiana coast. Today,
citrus growers in Plaquemines Parish in south Louisiana are experiencing crop losses due
to this saltwater intrusion, and rice growers in the central Acadiana region of Louisiana
are concerned about the continued supply of fresh water for their crops (Louisiana
Conservation and Restoration Authority 1998). Agriculture and its related activities have
historically conflicted with other land uses and activities, and oil and gas development is
no exception. As noted before, some farmers sold their land to oil-related companies as
the industry expanded along the Gulf coast. But according to the Vermilion Historical
Society of Vermilion Parish in south Louisiana, the development of the oil industry in
that area was a great boon to the fanners, many of whom had heavy mortgages from
depression years (Vermilion Historical Society 1983). In a recent (forthcoming) study of
a small Louisiana coastal community with a strong oil industry presence, it was noted
that many farmers in the area supplemented their agricultural income with royalties
received from oil production. They were able to make improvements to their lands and
operations, but during the slowdown of the 1980's, the funding needed for farm
improvements dried up.
Recreational Uses of the Coast and Oil
Land usage along the Gulf coast is impacted by offshore activities in yet other ways. If
we look at state maps of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, we will
notice that among them, only Louisiana has no coastal highway. Louisiana has an
unusual coastline compared to most coastal states in the United States, in that it is lined
with a broad and sometimes nearly impenetrable band of coastal marshes. Virtually none
of the state's population lives on or near the coast, and it is often impossible to get within
10 miles of the coast by road; in fact, it has been estimated that only 12.26% of the
Louisiana coast is accessible by roads. This contrasts sharply with the other Gulf coast
states, where the opposite situation exists: most of their population lives on or near the
coast because it's readily accessible by road. In Louisiana, there is no beautiful visual
coastal imagery as is found in other areas like Florida and California, where the coasts are
viewed as things of beauty and easily accessible for recreational pursuits of visitors and
nearby residents (Freudenburg and Gramling 1994).
303
The importance of tourism in the economy of Florida has already been noted in this
chapter, and increasingly, the central and western Gulf coast states are following
Florida's lead in realizing the potential for economic growth in the tourist and
recreational industries. In recent years, the states of Mississippi and Alabama have begun
to emphasize tourism as a ma] or component of their economy, and in Texas, community
leaders, government officials, and parks and recreation professionals too have begun to
appreciate the economic value of tourism. This emphasis began during the economic
downturn of the mid 198 Os, when community leaders and economic development
planners began to capitalize on the potential of recreational resources in their areas,
realizing recreation and tourism could create jobs, encourage a more diversified
economy, and help moderate recessions (U.S. Department of Commerce 1996).
However, a study by Gramling et al. (1995) found that individuals most closely
associated with coastal tourism in those states believed it would be, or could be,
negatively impacted by offshore oil and gas activity either due to an offshore accident
that would foul the beaches or that tourists would find the presence of rigs irritating.
Therefore, states along the Gulf of Mexico will have to balance the socioeconomic
benefits of the oil and gas industry with the increasing socioeconomic potential of coastal
tourism.
Because Louisiana's coast is inaccessible in all but a few areas, it has few beach-oriented
tourist attractions, so the offshore presence of drilling platforms is a non-issue in that
regard. There is some eco-tourism in the swamps and marshes, where one can take an air
boat tour of the area, looking for alligators, spotting numerous types of birds, and
admiring huge cypress groves, but those activities, along with duck and goose hunting
and fresh and saltwater fishing, cany on it spite of the network of oil and gas pipelines
and presence of other offshore infrastructures.
Industrial Development and Infrastructure

An examination of oil industry facilities sites by Davis and Place (1983) noted two forms
were evident: clustered facilities and interspersed facilities, both forms of which involved
land use conflicts. In the first type, it was found that residential areas were mixed with
heavy industry or commercial activities and were actually competing for the available
higher ground along watercourses. In some cases, research showed this was because
there was only one road along the bayou, and the community had been there first, but
offshore oil facilities needed deep draft access, so they became neighbors. In the second
type, family businesses were located on land already owned, which happened to also be
the place of residence. Both of these two types of facilities related to oil activities can be
found almost anywhere along the Gulf of Mexico. In Corpus Christi, Texas, there are
some neighborhoods where oil refinery holding tanks are as close a neighbor as the house
next door (Corpus Christi Caller-Times 1998). In 1993, more than 2,000 refinery-area
residents united in a class-action suit with property damage claims against 11 refinery
row industries. As a result of the litigation, still in the courts, little business development
has occurred in those areas. Since 1985, refineries in the area have bought about
500 homes along their boundaries in order to clear a buffer zone they need, which has
caused a sharp decline in the appraised home property values. A struggle over land use
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has resulted in this particular city, but it appears unlikely these residential areas will ever
rebound from oil and gas industrialization.
The 1990's has seen a resurgence in the oil and gas industry that has resulted from the
discovery of oil and gas in the deepwater fields of the central Gulf of Mexico.
Subsequent deepwater royalty tax relief and continued technological improvement has
brought about an increase in offshore and onshore activities in the coastal regions of the
Gulf states. 1-lowever, the volume of activity that is, and will be, associated with
deepwater has raised concerns about infrastructural capabilities of communities involved
in offshore oil industry activities. A 1998 study by the Economic Development
Administration found that coastal leaders are concerned that recent economic growth due
to deepwater development has exacerbated the problems of the deteriorating
infrastructural network found in the region (Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Conservation
and Restoration Task Force and the Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Authority
1998).
Infrastructural networks may be both physical and cultural. Physical infrastructure

usually refers to capital facilities and land assets that are necessary to support
development while protecting public health, safety, and well-being. Among others, this
includes water supply and wastewater disposal, transportation (ports, roads, bridges,
airports, rail, navigation, highways), solid waste disposal, drainage, flood protection,
industrial parks, electricity, and oil and gas structures. Social infrastructure generally
refers to social services, educational facilities, hospitals, and parks.
In order to understand the concerns of today's leaders, we have to look back at the
infrastructural needs of coastal zone activities as the industry developed, and
consequences thereof for the Gulf coast. Communities caught up in rapid development
found they were unable to keep up with the demands for adequate infrastructure.
Significant population increases strained utility and sewage systems, medical facilities,
social service services, and created housing shortages. The shortage of available land in
the 1950's for residential sites around Morgan City, Louisiana was alleviated by creating
a new community, Bayou Vista, in former sugar cane fields. By 1970 it was an
incorporated community of 5,000. The education system was severely strained during
periods of rapid oil and gas development; between 1950 and 1970, St. Mary Parish
experienced a 115% increase in public school registration. The educational system,
perpetually underfunded, experienced crowded classrooms, scarcity of supplies, and
teacher shortages (Gramling and Freudenburg 1992).
At the same time, oil industry development also led to infrastructural improvements in
local medical facilities, and water and sewer systems, among others. Public bonds
ftinded new construction projects that communities hoped would draw new enterprises,
but with the decline in production value and activity associated with exploration in the
mid-1980's, these facilities constructed to attract new businesses became liabilities for the
communities instead, as they had to continue making payments on those facilities,
regardless of economic downturns. Property values declined, in some instances there was
high outmigration, and businesses of all types failed (Gramling and Freudenburg 1992).
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The concerns that coastal leaders have today of the physical infrastructure involve roads,
highways, and bridges that are not only deteriorating with age, but are concomitantly
becoming more congested as regular offshore oil and deepwater activities increase.
Many of these are vital hurricane evacuation routes for coastal residents (Louisiana
Conservation and Restoration Authority 1998).
Port Fourchon
Located 21 miles south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana, in Lafourche Parish, is home of the
Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), the nation's only deepwater superport, providing
tanker offloading and temporary storage services for crude oil transported on some of the
largest tankers in the world. This port is the geographic and economic center of offshore
drilling efforts along Louisiana's Gulf coast. In 1995, LOOP handled over 250 million
barrels (bbl) of crude oil, or an estimated 685,000 bbls of oil per day. Louisiana
Highway 1 is Port Fourchon's only land-based access, and it was estimated in 1998 that
each month 30,000 trucks and over 200,000 passenger vehicles traveled that road.
Traffic flow figures predict an increase of between 3% and 6% annually in the next
decade with continued anticipated expansion of the port (Louisiana Coastal Wetlands
Conservation and Restoration Task Force and the Wetlands Conservation and Restoration
Authority 1998). A report in The Advocate, a Baton Rouge, Louisiana newspaper
(Guarisco 1998), estimated that 21% of Highway 1 was in poor condition and 98% was in
need of some kind of improvement. Furthermore, most people agreed in the Port
Fourchon area that the Leeville Bridge, on which every vehicle must cross heading south
to the port, was the most critical point on the route. This 30 year old deteriorating bridge
must lift to allow boats to pass below on Bayou Lafourche; when it is open, or broken,
traffic backs up. There is no alternate route.
The primary worries of leaders and residents of Lafourche Parish at the time of the
newspaper article dealt with both present and future concerns: there were only five
deepwater rigs in operation, but another 78 were on the drawing boards (Guarisco 1998).
Because deepwater activity takes place so far offshore, beyond state waters, the federal
government keeps the taxes collected on production. Not much is returned to the states,
so without this tax base, local and state economies find needed infrastructural
improvements problematic, unless local and state economies are further burdened.
Coastal states are therefore hoping to have legislation passed that would give more of the
tax proceeds to the states. Besides road and bridge maintenance and repairs,
infrastructural concerns included nonexistent available housing, with waiting lists for
those wanting rental property to lease, and availability of fresh water; the Lafourche
water company was then selling millions of gallons of fresh water to Port Fourchon and
the surrounding area daily, and demand was anticipated to increase as deepwater projects
continued.
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Oil Spills and Flazardous Waste
Growth of offshore oil activities in the Gulf coast has been accompanied by other
environmental concerns, those of potential oil spills and hazardous waste disposal. The
Louisiana Department of Transportation (1999) Internet website cites the LOOP facility
in Louisiana as having had a satisfactory safety and performance record, according to the
Executive Director of the facility, noting cumulative volume of spills in 1996 totaled
1.5 gallons. Furthermore, since 1980, OCS operators have produced 4.7 billion bbl of oil
and spilled only 0.00 1% of this oil, or 1 bbl for every 81,000 bbl produced. In the last
15 years, according to MMS (1999), there have been no spills greater than 1,000 bbl from
an OCS platform or drilling rig, and the spill risk related to a diesel spill from drilling
operations is even less. From 1976-1985, there were 80 reported diesel spills greater than
1 bbl associated with drilling activities, compared with 11,944 wells drilled, or a 0.7%
probability of occurrence. Interestingly, natural seepage of oil in the Gulf of Mexico is
far more extensive. Researchers have estimated a natural seepage rate of about
120,000 bbl per year from one area of 23,000 square kilometers offshore of Louisiana.
The lead state agency in Texas for the prevention of and response to oil spills in the
marine environment is the Texas General Land Office. In 1995, the program responded
to approximately 1,250 reported oil spills, noting that despite the increasing amount of oil
handled in Texas waters, the number of oil spill responses decreased due to the program's
aggressive enforcement program, aerial surveillance activities, and increased harbor and
vehicle patrols (U.S. Department of Commerce 1996).
However, as offshore activities have developed, there have been reports of oil spills in the
Gulf of Mexico that have either involved ship/barge collisions, or pipeline ruptures. In
1993, three vessels collided at the entrance to Tampa Bay, Florida, resulting in the release
of an estimated 328,000 gallons of oil which formed a 17-mile oil slick. High winds
drove the oil to shore, impacting 2 miles of beach park and wildlife found in the area
along the Gulf of Mexico. Within a month all loose oil had been recovered. This
particular incident was significant as it was the first major demonstration of the U.S.
Coast Guard vessel response plan requirements. The cleanup was financed by owners of
the barges involved in the collision, who divided tasks and geographic sectors among
several contractors. Approximately 1,800 professionals and volunteers assisted in
cleaning up the oil that came ashore (Environmental Protection Agency [EPAJ 1999).
In 1997, there was a 5,000 bbl oil spill in the saltwater Lake Bane, off the Louisiana
coast. The spill was the result from the rupture of an offshore pipeline bringing oil
onshore. A study conducted Pulsipher et al. (1998) at the time of the oil clean-up showed
that the short-term social and economic consequences of the oil spill were modest. This
has been aifributed to three factors. The first is that there is a flexible adaptive
cooperative coalition in the oil spill cleanup industry that springs into action when large
spills occur along the Gulf coast. The presence of this coalition was noted during
clean-up activities. Second, cleanup activities were fortunately of relatively short
duration, which further limited the short-term economic arid social impact. Third,
because the spill site was geographically isolated, most coastal users were able to avoid
the spill site.
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Hazardous waste disposal has been somewhat more problematic for the Gulf coast
region. Drilling and production activities generate liquil and solid wastes, including
debris, drill cuttings, drilling fluids, and wastewater, particularly produced water or brine.
Additionally, activities of companies directly linked to the oil industry frequently produce
contaminants that are potentially environmentally harmful. Although most agree that
tighter government control along with close monitoring of waste disposal has helped
reduce potential environmental problems, costly federal cleanup operations of numerous
sites along the Gulf coast point to problems arising from the past. Improper disposal of
oil and gas activity contaminants in some areas have threatened groundwater of some
communities. In Abbeville, Louisiana, for example, two adjacent sites placed oil drilling
muds, salt water, and other drilling fluids into either on-site tanks, or earthen pits. EPA
tests in late 1985 revealed, among other compounds, lead, arsenic, benzene, and toluene
in an area where about 2,600 people obtained their drinking water, and 1,000 acres of
cropland were being irrigated by private wells within 3 miles of the site. Another
9,000 acres were being irrigated with surface water, also potentially threatened by the
sites (EPA 1999).
It is clear that oil and gas development in the Gulf of Mexico has significantly affected
and altered land use patterns; residential, industrial, recreational, and occupational. In
some coastal communities, there is ready acceptance and acquiescence of oil industry
development needs and demands, in others, there is uneasy give-and-take, and in yet still
other coastal communities, there is absolute rejection. The industry in effect asks of these
communities to make a considerable investment in their own future, a future over which
they actually have very little control.
Impacts on Families and Individuals

Researchers have known that rapid technological development in the oil industry has
been accompanied by significant impacts on individuals and their families Some of
these have taken place rather quickly, while other impacts have been spread along a
continuum over the many decades of Gulf coast oil involvement. Most research has
shown that communities experiencing rapid industrial development have an improvement
in their economic position (Laska et al. 1993); therefore, it follows that individuals
residing within those communities should benefit from increases in employment
opportunities and higher wages. Offshore oil industry activities in the coastal
communities of the central Gulf of Mexico are no different; they are widely believed to
be connected to positive economic benefits which includes generating new jobs within
the industry itself, and general economic spinoffs. Conviction that these activities are
associated with positive economic benefits stemmed from either past experiences, or a
general understanding that it was logical for industrial activity to stimulate job growth
(Gramling et al. 1995). From 1959 to 1969 the new jobs created by the oil and gas
industry increased the median income of families in urban areas of 2,500 or more
inhabitants by several thousand dollars per year (Bobo and Charlton 1974; Davis and
Place 1983). Another example of economic improvement of individuals within a
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particular community can be shown by the growth of per capita personal income in
Lafayette, Louisiana from 1973-1980 when it increased at an annual rate of 8.1% during
the period of rapid development in the offshore industry. This exceeded the total
Louisiana rate by a factor of two and by a factor of four over the United States rate, and
was the result of the widespread real growth of Lafayette (Manuel 1983). This
unparalleled economic prosperity, and significant economic gains, were felt not only in
Louisiana coastal communities and their residents, but as was pointed out previously, in
Texas as well.
Although offshore oil extraction shares similarities with Western U.S. energy
development projects, among them the cyclical nature of extraction, creation ofnewjobs,
and the influx of immigrants into an area seeking job opportunities, there are differeilces:
new employment opportunities associated with offshore oil development may not be
located near the source of the oil, and jobs on oil rigs may be filled by non-local
individuals who are able to commute long distances due to concentrated work scheduling
(Gramling and Brabant 1986; Gramling 1989; Forsyth and (iauthier 1991). But
Gramling and Brabant (1986) also found that in the case of East St. Mary Parish in
Louisiana, there was a strong secondary and tertiary service sector that developed,
employing local people working under traditional conditions and hours.
In some cases, traditional economic activities of long-term residents were replaced by the
development and expansion of economic activities associated with offshore oil that
appeared to be more highly paid. This was exemplified in the case of the Morgan City
shrimp industry, which ceased to exist with the rapid expansion of offshore activities and
subsequent growth of oil and gas related services sector.
Oil and Louisiana Cajuns

An ethnic group in Louisiana whose traditional economic activities were greatly affected
by oil industry development was the "Cajuns." These exiled Acadians from Nova Scotia,
Canada, began moving into south Louisiana in the 1750's. Acadian pioneers were
characterized by individualism, adaptability, pragmatism, industriousness, egalitarian
principles, and an ability to pull together when threatened. They possessed extended
families, distinctive language and speech patterns, and lived an agrarian way of life
(Brasseaux 1992). All immigrants to Louisiana's wetland landscapes, according to Davis
(1994), developed cultural practices tied to the annual-use cycle that is still linked to the
region's natural resource base.
Getschow and Petzinger of the Wall Street Journal (1984) printed a series of articles on
the oil industry's impact on Louisiana's Cajun culture, concluding that extraction had
depleted that culture. Specifically, the articles focused on how the oil boom brought oil
men in the 1930's to an area where life was "frozen in time," and fishing was "in the
blood." These outsiders, or "Texians" as they were called, at first disparaged the Cajuns
because of their quaint customs and clumsy English. The Cajun "swampers" and
subsistence farmers gave up their traps and leased or sold their land to take part in the
economic boom of rapid oil development. Many became the backbone of the oil industry
309
in south Louisiana, toiling under the harsh sun to help extract a resource that was needed
by an entire nation. But the price that was paid by this ethnic group was high, according
to the Wall Street Journal. The concentrated work schedules pulled apart family ties,
fishing grounds were despoiled by years of furious oil aiid gas production, and the Cajun
society was rio longer self-sufficient, but rather one dependent on oil.
Not everyone agrees with this depiction. Gramling (1994) did not concur with the Wall
Street Journal's articles, instead remarking that people he interviewed gave the offshore
industry credit for helping to hold the Cajun culture together. In times of prosperity, oil
industry development may actually have helped sustain locally valued ways of life. Long
extracting the region's natural resources, Cajuns viewed oil as another opportunity for
employment and business development. The concentrated work scheduling allowed the
offshore workers the chance to earn good wages, while continuing to enjoy a home life
on days off in an area they felt comfortable with. It is well known to anyone living in
south Louisiana that many of the traditional ways of life are alive and well. In our
experience, when interviewing respondents who reveal they are of Cajun heritage (and
they usually do), they frequently pride themselves as having a heritage that breeds
stubbornness and toughness in times of turmoil and trouble. Today they continue to have
a strong cultural presence in the south Louisiana region.
Economic Impacts on Individuals and Families

Because the oil industry is cyclical, there are times of slowdown, with decreased
exploration, drilling, arid production activities. This impacts cormnunities, families, and
individuals negatively, and we would expect to see this reflected in certain economic
measures. Tolbert (1995) examined family income inequality trends in coastal Louisiana
parishes adjacent to the developed OCS, and coastal counties of the Florida panhandle
where there has been no significant onshore or offshore development. A comparative
inequality analysis of data from the 1970, 1980, and 1990 U.S. Censuses revealed that
inequality in Louisiana exhibited a great deal of volatility from the 1970's period of rapid
oil and gas expansion through the 1980's period of decline. Although Florida inequality
trended downward over time, by 1990 in selected Louisiana parishes, inequality was
higher in several cases than it had been in 1970. These patterns suggest a substantial
impact of onshore and offshore industry activity on coastal families in the middle to
upper-middle portions of the income distribution.
Increased opportunities for the types of highly paid employment frequently associated
with offshore oil activities usually suggests widespread prosperity within those
communities. However, there are other reasons than those previously mentioned why not
all local individuals will benefit from the development; those with few skills or who are
not willing to train for work in energy-related jobs will not benefit from the improved
economic conditions (Manuel 1983). Those that are economically marginal at the time of
rapid growth and development in the offshore oil industry are impacted in numerous
ways. Brabant (1993) found that in four Louisiana parishes, those who were poor prior to
development were similar in that they were local people, uneducated, and they lacked
skills. With the tremendous growth in the offshore oil industry, there was a significant
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Tobin: Socloeconomics
decline in the mean number of households receiving food stamps by the mid 197OTs. Not
only were those poor who wanted to work able to extricate themselves from welfare rolls,
they were able to earn substantial incomes even if skills and education were deficient.
Yet, not all locals benefited from the growth. Brabant found that the situation for the
elderly poor worsened because the cost of living went up, which impacted them
financially. Fixed incomes and low incomes meant housing could be problematic for
families because of housing shortages or higher housing costs, unless they were home
owners prior to the increased activities.
There are other negative economic impacts on individuals and their families during this
period of rapid oil industry development. These include inflationary prices on goods
purchased in the community which contributes to increased costs of living, and economic
issues with regards to "amenity" uses of the coast, such as tourism, versus "consumptive"
uses (Gramling 1995). This has been at the heart of the argument against offshore
development by residents and communities of the Florida Gulf coast. There, tourism is
not simply a dominant element in the economy; it is the economy. Offshore oil
development seen as unwanted competition over limited coastal resources, and is
aesthetically incompatible with the amenity utilization of the coastal areas (Gramling and
Freudenburg 1995).
During times of decline in oil industry activities, impacts on individuals and their families
include loss of employment or reduction in wages/number of hours worked, and
increased poverty. In the 1950's and 1960's, migrants came to the Louisiana coast
seeking jobs in the oil industry, and many of them had no familial or other ties to the
area. The local social service agencies that provided Food Stamps and Welfare
Assistance reported that many of these were hopeful and desperate to find employment,
and were unaware that social service provisions in this particular part of the country were
not as available as they had been in the North Central "Rustbelt" economies. The state
was simply not prepared to deal with this influx of new residents needing social services,
and when the slowdown came, the state retracted its expenditures at the local level (Laska
et al. 1993). Brabant (1993) found that the mean number of households in Lafayette
Parish receiving food stamps in 1983 increased 20.7%, and in St. Mary, 29.9%. These
households consisted of previous welfare recipients, and those referred to as "new poor";
individuals who had once enjoyed high-paying jobs in the oil industry, but had
subsequently lost them, and consequently found themselves unable to meet their financial
obligations. These were people who had never been poor before. The number of people
in Texas living below the poverty level grew by more than 500,000 in the decade of the
1980's, to 2.7 million in 1990 from 2.2 million 10 years earlier. During the same time,
demands for social services increased (Hodel and Deitz 1993). In a recent study
(forthcoming) of a small coastal Louisiana community, executives with oil-field related
businesses frequently reported that in the late 1980's, a period of severe oil industry
slowdown, in an effort to avoid letting employees go, would greatly reduce employees
hours, eliminate bonuses and paid vacations, and asked employees if they were willing to
take a cut in pay. Although these appear to be drastic measures, it was their attempt to
delay as long as they could, laying off their employees.
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Social Problems
There has been some research investigating the relationship between rapid oil and gas
development and various social problems. It is widely accepted by researchers that rapid
social change is often accompanied by social disorder. Factors such as increased
economic inequality and inmigration are believed to be partly responsible for breakdowns
in social control that lead to increases in social problems. Seydlitz et al. (1993), using
data from 1956-1990, found in her analyses of Louisiana parishes that rapid increases in
oil and gas activities do disrupt social controls that serve to inhibit social problems. For
instance, increases in suicide and homicide rates between periods of rapid growth of
activities and severe industry retractions were found to be greater in these parishes
between 1956-1990 than those in the U.S. overall. However, there appeared to be a cycle
of disruptions and reequilibriums, with increases in social problems followed by
decreases, and not just one large fluctuation related to rapid growth and abrupt decline.
Criminal court cases, homicide rates, suicide rates, and rates ofjuvenile commitments
were not consistently statistically significant among parishes differing in level or type of
involvement in oil and gas activities. Although Seydlitz et al. (1993) did find a
relationship between oil and gas development and social problems, they point out that it
is not clear, consistent, nor strong.
Concentrated Work Scheduling

Among the biggest socioeconomic impacts of offshore oil development and activities on
individuals and families has been the concentrated temporal scheduling of work. There
are a number of reasons. First, concentrated work scheduling (7 days on, 7 days off, etc.)
attracts employees from a larger geographical area, and diminishes the potential
concentration of settlement around this economic activity, oil and gas extraction
(Gramling 1989). This allows families of offshore workers the flexibility of living in a
traditional place of residence while the offshore worker goes where needed. Decisions
concerning the site selection of oil activities can be made with less regard to existing
human settlement patterns because of the large number of these long-distance commuters.
Gramling and Brabant (1986) found that employment patterns in East St. Maiy Parish in
Louisiana prior to the offshore industry development did not emphasize this type of
nontraditional work scheduling. Therefore, local residents appeared reluctant to work
offshore in a concentrated work scheduling environment. Because the rapidly growing
support sector offered available jobs, offshore work was often filled by commuters
outside the area. For some, this pattern of concentrated work scheduling has become a
way of life. By working offshore, they may be able to escape fluctuations in local or
regional economies; for example, if they or their family reside in an economically
depressed area, concentrated work scheduling elsewhere allows them the possibility of
escaping the local economic impacts arid participating in a wider labor market. In
addition, there is the possibility of upward mobility without familial dislocation.
A major aspect of concentrated work scheduling is that participation in the nuclear family
and its social networks is interrupted. While other family members operate on more
traditional time/space schedules, the offshore worker experiences a totally different
non-standardized work schedule. A 1991 study by Forsyth and Gauthier reported that
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families of offshore workers frequently experienced problems with integration; only

through changing their basic structure and organization could they remain viable social
systems. Adaptation to that type of work scheduling remains a source of stress for
individuals and families.
Those individuals working offshore find transportation between work sites offshore and
support bases onshore requires boats or helicopters and takes time. With deepwater
drilling developing in areas hundreds of miles offshore, transportation time will increase.
Concentrated work schedules may change to accommodate those longer distances and
increased time in that workers' periods of "on days" and "off days" may be extended.
Although offshore housing has a number of amenities, there are still problems associated
with living offshore, including physical risk and strenuous labor in sometimes hostile
environments, limited recreational facilities, and loneliness (Gramling 1989).
Impacts of Oil on Education, Migration, and Population

As oil industry activities developed along the Gulf of Mexico, and residents of
communities began to enjoy the positive economic benefits associated with the rapid
economic growth of the industry, individuals began to make career decisions based on the
expectation that the oil industry would stay at that high level of development. Becker
(1971) notes that people make conscious decisions to invest in education: factors such as
costs of obtaining an education, rate of return, market influences, and supply and demand
conditions determine an individual's decision. Costs vs. benefits are weighed.
Furthermore, people are more likely to migrate/relocate than invest in education when
higher paying jobs can be obtained simply by moving and higher education is not
necessary for those jobs. There was such a growth in activities along the Gulf coast that
more highly paid jobs become available without greater education, which reduced the
perceived benefits of higher education. Seydlitz and Laska (1994) found that greater
petroleum industry activity in Louisiana parishes from 1956-1990 was associated with
higher percentages of students completing high school, but lower percentages of high
school graduates enrolling in college. Trade schools, in response to industry demand,
taught skills that were marketable for the offshore activity (Gramling and Reilly 1980).
Because educational attainment of the residents of an area has a strong impact on future
development opportunities, localities would benefit from a well-educated populace. One
of the concerns of Louisiana economic development specialists is that the success and
embeddedness of the oil and gas industry has actually served as a deterrent to education.
The development of the oil industry over an extended period of time has attracted people
to the area because of the available work in the industry that promised financial rewards.
A 49 county and parish study of the Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama Gulf
coast showed that there was a 20.78% increase in population from 1960-1970; from
1970-1980 there was a 27.88% increase. The average annual population growth rate of
2.79% across those states was nearly twice the national average of 1.15% during the same
period. Oil and gas activities are used to explain why the population in this central and
western Gulf of Mexico region increased by 54.46% from 1960-1980. During this same
313
20 year period, the central Louisiana coast alone gained 58% (McKenzie et al. 1993).
Unprecedented net inrnigration of 126,007 persons to Louisiana occurred in the 1970's,
which was the first and only decade since 1870 that Louisiana had experienced any
substantial net inmigration, and it was clearly related to the oil boom and accelerated job
growth that began in the early 1970's and extended through the early 1980's (Maruggi and
Wartenberg 1996).
One impact attributed to the decline in oil and gas activities along the Gulf of Mexico
coast has been population decline. In 1981, 5 of the 49 counties and parishes within the
McKenzie et al. (1993) study area experienced negative net migration. In other words,
there were more people moving out of the area than moving in. By 1984, the number of
counties and parishes experiencing negative net migration had increased to 35. In
southwest Louisiana, the 1981-1982 percent change of 3.33 in population shifted from a
rate three times the national average to a net population loss within 2 years. The loss of
the high-paying oilpatch jobs in the 1980's resulted in an outmigration from Louisiana of
411,099 persons, and according to Maruggi and Wartenberg (1996), the underlying cause
of the net migration reversal was not so much from an increase of people moving out of
Louisiana, but from the virtual cessation of people moving into the state.
With the 2000 Census on the horizon, researchers will have access to much data,
including population data from the 1990's. It will be interesting to see what changes have
taken place in coastal communities along the Gulf of Mexico in the past decade. At least
until the slowdown of the late 1990's, the authors of the Louisiana Economic Outlook
were forecasting that the Houma Metropolitan Statistical Area would add almost
6,000 jobs during the 1998-1999 fiscal year. Behind their belief in rapid growth was the
oil and gas exploration and production resurgence in the Gulf, especially in the "deep
water Gulf' (Pulsipher et al. 1998). Because of the recent slowdown in the oil and gas
industry, forecasts such as this one may have been overly optimistic.
Conclusions
No other industry in recent history has had more of an impact on individuals arid families
living along the central and western Gulf of Mexico coastal region than oil and gas.
Particularly along the Louisiana Gulf coast, nearly everyone knows someone who earns a
living as an employee of an oil- and gas-related company, and many people can relate a
story involving some aspect of offshore development. The effects are so pervasive it
would be hard for most people residing in the area to imagine what it would be like
without the presence of oil industry activities.
The brief review presented here of the socioeconomic impacts of oil industry activities on
the Gulf of Mexico coastal region has primarily focused on those resulting from shallow
water activities, not deepwater. Because deepwater activities are fairly new along the
historical continuum of oil and gas development, and therefore little socioeconomic
research exists for those activities, there is a recognition among researchers that before
gaps in data become too large, research efforts need to step up their pace. Ascertaining
314
the differences and similarities of socioeconomic impacts upon individuals, families,

communities, and states between shallow and deepwater oil industry activities will not be
easy because of the integration of respective activities by oil- and gas- related companies.
With few exceptions, those areas most likely to be affected are presumed to have already
become immersed in such activities.
Some of the differences we have noted between deepwater and shallow or coastal zone
operations, in terms of social and economic impacts, are derived from the need for
cost-effective measures, and technological innovations. These may include lengthened
concentrated work schedules for those employed offshore in deepwater; joint ventures
between companies affecting labor demand; and stricter industry safety standards
necessitating a greater need for skilled labor. Additionally, activities supporting
deepwater development strain community infrastructures, and communities must have an
adequate tax base with which to meet both public and private needs. Federal revenue
from taxes levied on deepwater production must be fairly distributed to compensate for
demands placed on Gulf coast communities due to OCS activities.
Information needs continue to be similar to those noted in Carney (1998). The goal of
this socioeconomic research is to better understand events of the past, placing them in
some theoretical perspective, and then through further use of empiricism, explain societal
stmctures in such a way as to benefit the future. For instance, industrial labor surveys
would provide information on industry behavior, and community capacity evaluations
and subsequent action could help mitigate potential problems.
Deepwater development is now a technological advancement that will serve to strengthen

the commitment of individuals and families within this area to the oil and gas industry.
Regardless of problems brought forth by oil industry activity, and the rhetoric of needed
economic diversification, it is a fact that oil and gas development along the OCS in the
Gulf of Mexico has been a significant force that in many respects has benefited the entire
region.
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319
Chapter 12: Synthesis
Neal W. Phillips
(with contributions by authors of Chapters 2-11)
Introduction 321
Operational Contrasts and Implications 325
High Production Rates 325
Shift in Types of Structures 325
Changes in Drilling and Production 326
Transportation Challenges 327
Socioeconomic Implications 327
Environmental Contrasts and Implications 328
Physical/Chemical Environment 328
Water Column Ecosystems 330
Benthic Ecosystems 333
Data Gaps and Information Needs 334
Deepwater Technology 334
Geology 334
Physical Oceanography 335
Chemical Oceanography 336
Water Column Biology 336
Benthic Communities 337
Protected Species 337
Fishes and Fisheries 338
Socioeconomics 338
Introduction
The rapidly increasing level of deepwater development in the Gulf of Mexico poses a
number of environmental, socioeconomic, and technological issues. Both new and old
(existing) technologies are being introduced into a relatively unfamiliar environment.
The effects of new technologies and deepwater development are not limited to that
environment, but also have implications for onshore, coastal, arid shelf environments
where the existing infrastructure lies.
As noted by Carney (1998), the Minerals Management Service (MMS) is highly

experienced in evaluating potential impacts of existing technologies in coastal and shelf
environments. He identified two main problems posed by deepwater development:
1. "Identify those aspects of deepwater development for which the possibility of

environmental or socioeconomic impact is no different than that now experienced in
shallow water. Such activities may be evaluated and regulated largely within the
current scope of knowledge, and MMS' needs for new information should be modest
and easily met."
321
Phillips et al.: Synthesis
2. "Identifi those aspects of deepwater development for which the modes of

development and/or the environments subject to impact possibly pose novel threats of
impact. For such activities the adequacies of current knowledge for evaluation and
regulation must be seriously questioned. In many cases, the absence of management
information will be the result of major gaps in scientific understanding of the deep
ocean...."
Previous chapters of this report have discussed deepwater technology (Chapter 2), the
physical and chemical environment (Chapters 3-5), biological communities and fisheries
(Chapters 61O), and socioeconomics (Chapter 11). This Synthesis Chapter draws
together information from the preceding chapters to contrast deepwater operations and
deepwater environments with their shallow water counterparts. Important differences are
noted and their implications discussed. Such contrasts provide a basis for addressing the
two problems cited by Carney (1998) and for identifiing data gaps and future study
needs. Table 12.1 summarizes selected operational and environmental contrasts
discussed in this chapter.
The chapter is organized into three main sections:
Operational contrasts and implications. Based on Chapter 2 (Deepwater

Tecirnology) and other sources, this section highlights the main differences in oil and
gas operations between deepwater and shelf environments, and discusses implications
for assessing potential enviromnental and socioeconomic impacts.
Environmental contrasts and implications. This section focuses on significant

differences between deep and shallow ecosystems that could affect the nature of
environmental and socioeconomic impacts.
Data gaps and information needs. This section identifies what types of information
are needed that are currently not available to support decisions regarding oil and gas
operations in deepwater environments.
322
Table 12.1. Operational and environmental contrasts between deepwater

and shelf settings, and their implications
Contrast Implications
Operational
High oil and gas production rates Technological challenges for transportation and
processing
Increased volumes of produced water discharge
Potential increase in spill risk (and size)
Shift from bottom-founded to Epipelagic fishes should be attracted to deepwater
floating production structures structures (similar to shelf), but fewer structures
(tension leg platforms, spars, etc.) needed
and subsea systems Possible future reduction in explosive platform
removals
Benthic impacts will still occur due to
mooring/anchoring systems, flowlines, etc.
Changes in drilling and production Increased use of synthetic drilling fluids
(environmental impacts are being studied)
Drilling impacts lessened if wells are fewer, more
dispersed spatially (e.g., subsea wells tied to
floating production structure), and in deeper water
(enhanced dispersion)
Flowline chemicals pose new spill risks
Transportation challenges Longer and heavier pipelines needed, with impacts
to deepwater benthic environment
Increasing cost of pipelines may favor FPSOs
(environmental risks beillg studied)
Onshore activities Distance from shore affects work schedules,
MMS inspections
Sophisticated technology, stringent safety
requirements increase demand for skilled labor
Increasing strain on coastal infrastructure
Concerns over future economic downturns
Environmental
Complex, rugged topography, steep Novel geohazards, engineering challenges

slopes, etc.
Energetic currents (various classes) Challenges for designing facilities, predicting fate
of leaks and spills
Complex mesoscale circulation Effects on productivity of biological communities
features in water column (and benthos?)
323
Phillips et &.: Synthesis
Table 12.1. Operational and environmental contrasts between deepwater

and shelf settings, and their implications (Continued)
Contrast Implications
Environmental (continued)
Hydrocarbon seepage Background of hydrocarbon presence in relatively
uncontaminated environment
Presence of chemosynthetic communities
(requiring protection/avoidance)
Biological "hot spots" of increased Localized concentrations of plankton, fishes,

primary and secondary productivity cetaceans (potential for impacts)
in the water column
Migratory pathways for epipelagic Attraction of epipelagic fishes to structures may
fishes present in deepwater have regional impacts on migration and spawning
Fisheries include extensive surface Potential space-use conflicts with fishing industry
and bottom longlining operations
Concentrations of fish eggs and Potential for impacts due to spills
larvae in deepwater
Much larger suite of up to Many more cetacean species may come in contact
28 cetacean species (vs. 2-3 species with oil and gas operations (e.g., potential for
on shelf) including deep-diving and colliding with vessels)
cryptic species
Some cetaceans associated with Cetacean preferred feeding areas are not
mesoscale oceanographic features geographically fixed. Complicates protection, but
also offers possibility of avoiding some impacts by
coupling project schedule/location with remote
sensing
Lower adult turtle abundance, with Potential for some impacts reduced (especially
leatherbacks outnumbering those associated with structures and benthic
loggerheads activities)
Hatchlings and juveniles of all five Potential for impacts due to spills
turtle species may be present in
Sargassuin and flotsam
High diversity of deepwater benthos Potential impacts on benthic biodiversity
Lack of understanding of benthic Complicates predicting impacts and recovery
processes including benthic-pelagic (e.g., do benthic hot spots occur, and if so, are they
linkages spatially predictable?)
Topographic complexity of benthic Potential for unusual benthic communities
environment, much of which has (e.g., associated with canyons)
not been explored
Widespread presence of Dense assemblages require protection and
chemosynthetic communities avoidance
324
Phillips et aL: Synthesis
Operational Contrasts and Implications

Deepwater operations differ from their shelf counterparts in several key aspects, as
discussed in Chapter 2. Differences are also highlighted in proceedings of the MMS
Deepwater Workshop (Carney 1998) and in an MMS report by Cranswick and Regg
(1997).
high Production Rates
Large, productive reservoirs exist in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. As discussed in

Chapter 2, flow rates for wells completed in reservoirs typical of shallow water locations
have generally been in the range of up to 2,500 barrels of oil per day (BOPD). In
contrast, daily production rates as high as 50,000 BOPD have been reported from the
deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Such rates are due to the characteristics of deepwater
reservoirs and advances in well technology.
High production rates are among the characteristics that make deepwater development
economically attractive. But they pose technological challenges for transporting and
processing oil and gas (Chapter 2). In addition, rates of produced water discharge are
expected to increase (Hays and Ray 1998). Risks of oil spills may increase, since such
risks are calculated relative to the volume of oil handled (Anderson and LaBelle 1994).
Spill size may increase due to the higher flow rates handled by larger pipelines (Rainey
1998). The environmental implications are well known to MMS and are a matter of
degree rather than a novel problem.
Shift in Types of Structures
With increasing water depth has come a shift from primarily bottom-founded structures
(fixed platforms and compliant towers) to floating production systems (tension leg
platforms [TLPs], spars, semisubmersibles), and subsea production systems (Chapter 2).
It has also been suggested that the overall numbers of production structures per unit area
will be lower in deepwater due to more productive reservoirs and increased use of subsea
wells (Hays and Ray 1998).
Oil and gas platforms on the shelf typically develop a fouling community and attract
epipelagic fishes (Gallaway and Lewbel 1982; LGL Ecological Research Associates, Inc.
and Science Applications International Corporation 1998). While fouling community
development is expected to decline with increasing water depth, deepwater oil and gas
structures in the Gulf of Mexico will certainly attract epipelagic fishes of all kinds. The
attraction of fishes to floating structures in the upper water colunrn should be similar to
what is observed on the shelf (Chapter 10).
A shift away from bottom-founded structures should tend to reduce future impacts of
platform removal. On the shelf, platforms are usually removed using explosives to sever
platform legs just below the seabed (MMS 1997). Explosive platform removals pose
risks to marine mammals and turtles (Klima et al. 1988; Gitschlag and Herczeg 1994)
that have been effectively mitigated by NMFS monitoring requirements (National
325
Research Council 1996). Deepwater structures that are not bottom-founded may not
require explosive removal. Cranswick and Regg (1997) also mention the possibility of
mid-water abandonments, in which structures might be cut off in mid-water, leaving the
bottom half in place. Ecological implications have not been studied.
The shift away from bottom-founded structures will not avoid all benthic impacts of
structure installation. TLPs, spars, and semisubmersibles are held in place by mooring
systems that connect the floating production system to piled foundation systems or
anchors on the seafloor. Subsea wells are connected to the floating production system via
flowlines, which rest for some length on the seafloor. Impacts on benthos in the
deepwater Gulf of Mexico have not been studied. The MMS is initiating a monitoring
study (Effects of Oil and Gas Exploration and Development at Selected Continental
Slope Sites in the Gulf of Mexico) that should provide relevant information.
Changes in Drilling and Production
Deepwater drilling is expected to make increasing use of synthetic based drilling fluids
(Hays and Ray 1998). In the last decade, a variety of synthetic drilling fluids have been
developed in an effort to provide the oil and gas industry with "environmentally safe"
alternatives to oil-based muds. While potential impacts of water-based drilling fluids
have been studied extensively (National Research Council 1983; Neff 1987), impacts of
synthetic drilling fluids are less well documented. The MMS has just initiated a Gulf of
Mexico Comprehensive Synthetic Based Fluids Monitoring Program to provide
information on the environmental distribution, fates, toxicity and ecological effects of
cuttings from synthetic based drilling fluid systems near platforms in the western and
central Gulf of Mexico. This information will be used by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency and the oil industry to develop effluent limitation guidelines and other
regulations for these discharges.
As noted in Chapter 2, with increasing use of subsea wells tied to a floating production
system, the wells can be spread out and distributed to penetrate the reservoir where
needed. This may result in simpler, shorter, more direct wells, as compared with having
to drill wells from a comnion surface location with significant horizontal segments to
reach different parts of the reservoir. Where surface locations are spread out, drilling
fluid and cuttings discharges from initial spudding of a well (i.e., before the riser is set,
allowing drilling fluids to be recirculated to the surface) should also tend to be more
diffuse. On the other hand, Hays and Ray (1998) noted that greater total volumes of
cuttings may be expected in deepwater due to multiple wells and horizontal well
segments. Also, the dispersion of discharged cuttings will differ due to the increasing use
of synthetic drilling fluids, which adhere strongly to cuttings particles; cuttings from
synthetic based systems tend to clump and sink rapidly to the seafloor. The
aforementioned MMS monitoring study of selected exploration and development sites is
expected to provide relevant information.
A major technological challenge is ensuring continuous flow of unprocessed oil and gas
from subsea wells through the flowlines on the seafloor (Chapter 2). Technology is not
presently available for subsea processing of oil and gas produced from subsea wells.
326
Thus, the oil and gas must flow unprocessed through the flowlines to the manifold and
the host. Due to cold temperatures at the deep ocean bottom, waxes in oils and gas
hydrates can cause flow restrictions or complete plugging of flowlines and pipelines.
Both chemical and mechanical tecimiques are used to assure flow. With increasing use
of flowline chemicals, potential impacts of spills or leaks in the deepwater environment
will need to be evaluated.
Transportation Challenges
In deepwater, pipelines tend to be larger to handle the high production rates, and thicker
walled pipe is necessary to resist the higher water pressures and operating pressures
(Chapter 2). Thus, the pipelines have become very heavy, and different installation
methods have been developed so that the laying process can be carefully controlled.
Environmental impacts of pipeline installation in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico have not
been studied.
Deepwater pipelines are expensive (e.g., $1 million per mile), and pipeline costs can be a
significant factor in the overall cost of a deepwater development (Chapter 2). As new
discoveries are made that are farther and farther from the existing pipeline infrastructure,
floating production storage and offloading facilities (FPSOs) can be an attractive option
for the Gulf. Oil can be produced to an FPSO, stored, and then offloaded onto a shuttle
and shipped to shore. This transportation option can save the cost of expensive
deepwater oil pipelines. The MMS is conducting a study to prepare an Enviromnental
Impact Statement for the use of tanker-based FPSOs in the Gulf (George et al. 1999).
The MMS is also sponsoring a comparative risk analysis that will compare the risks of an
FPSO operating in the Gulf against the risks of other deepwater production systems
currently operating in the Gulf (Gilbert and Ward 2000). Both studies should be
completed in late 2000, and will be used by the MMS in their permitting decisions.
Socioeconomic Implications
As development moves farther offshore, the increasing distance results in increased travel
time for everything from crew changes to MMS inspections (Oynes 1998). As noted in
Chapter 11, concentrated work scheduling (e.g., seven days on, and seven days off) is
among the biggest socioeconomic impacts of OCS development and activities on
individuals and families. With increasing deepwater development, concentrated work
schedules may change to accommodate longer travel distances. Although offshore
housing has a number of amenities, there are still problems associated with living
offshore, including physical risk, strenuous labor, and limited recreational facilities.
The increasingly sophisticated technology used in deepwater development and

increasingly stringent industry safety requirements are expected to increase the already
strong demand for skilled labor. It has also been noted that the number ofjoint ventures
between companies is expected to affect labor demand (Chapter 11).
Activities supporting deepwater development strain the infrastructure of coastal

communities, which are concerned about receiving their fair share of proceeds from
327
deepwater development. Coastal communities are particularly concerned about roads,

highways, and bridges that are not only deteriorating with age, but are becoming more
congested as deepwater activities increase. These concerns are exemplified by the
discussion of Port Fourchon, Louisiana in Chapter 11. Besides road and bridge
maintenance and repairs, infrastructural concerns include housing shortages and
availability of fresh water.
Historically, the social and economic effects of offshore oil and gas development, as
reviewed in Chapter 11, have included dramatic economic and social changes. No other
industry in recent history has had a more pervasive impact on individuals and families
living along the central and western Gulf of Mexico. While deepwater development is
currently booming, history shows that there are times when the oil industry is in a
slowdown, with significant negative impacts on communities, families, and individuals.
Environmental Contrasts and Implications
Physical/Chemical Environment
Geology
Roberts (1998) noted that, "twenty-five years ago our knowledge of processes on the
continental slope in the northern Gulf of Mexico was so limited that it was viewed simply
as an accreting sedimentary structure." In contrast, the synthesis in Chapter 3 reinforces
the contemporary view that this is an extremely complex and dynamic environment.
The Gulf of Mexico is unique in the construction and evolution of its northwestern
continental margin and in particular the continental slope off Texas and Louisiana
(Chapter 3). The processes that determined the physiography of the continental slope are
almost completely dominated by the halokinesis of allochthonous salt. Bathymetric maps
reveal the presence of over 90 intraslope basins with relief in excess of 150 m.
Intraslope-interlobal and intraslope-supralobal basins occupy the upper/middle and lower
continental slope, respectively. In addition to the many structural effects discussed in
Chapter 3, salt movement creates subsurface conduits that allow liquids and gases to seep
into near-surface sediments and the overlying water column. The extent of seepage on
the slope as compared with the shelf is important from the standpoint of both chemistry
(Chapter 5) and the chemosynthetic communities associated with seeps (Chapter 8).
The engineering and geological constraints on the continental slope off Texas and
Louisiana related to hydrocarbon recovery will require both novel geological and
geophysical surveys and engineering methods. Significant seafloor engineering problems
in deep water include slope instabilities, both short-term (slump) and long-term (creep);
pipeline spanning problems; mass transport from unknown causes; and unusual stiffness
and strength conditions. The geohazards (engineering and geologic constraints) present
in and on the central and western continental slope are many in number and are mainly
due to the activity of salt and rapid sedimentation. Specific examples cited in Chapter 3
328
include: faults (sediment tectonics, halokinesis); slope stability (slope steepening, slumps,
creep, debris flow); gassy sediments (sediment strength reduction, hydrates, sediment
liquefaction); fluid and gas expulsion features; diapiric structures (salt, mud, hydrates);
seafloor depressions (blowouts, pockrnarks, seeps); seafloor features (sediment waves,
differential channel fill, brine-low chanmels, seabed furrows); shallow waterfiow; and
deep water high-velocity currents (mega-furrows, seabed erosion).
Physical Oceanography
Physical oceanographic characteristics of the deepwater Gulf may be of concern to the

MMS from three perspectives: (1) facilities design; (2) pollutant transport; and
(3) biological consequences, such as intensified primary and secondary production
associated with cyclonic eddies and confluence zones between Loop Current eddies
(LCEs).
Chapter 4 discusses five classes of energetic currents in the deepwater portion of the Gulf
of Mexico of potential concern from a design perspective to those involved with offshore
oil and gas production and transportation. The first class is a familiar one that has long
been of interest to the MMS and oil industry operators on the continental shelf. The
others are specific to, or more associated with, the deepwater environment.
currents resulting from energetic, episodic atmospheric events, including cold air
outbreaks, extratropical cyclones, and tropical cyclones such as hurricanes;
surface-intensified currents arising from the ma] or surface circulation features (the
Loop Current, the anticyclonic LCEs derived therefrom, and both cyclonic and
anticyclonic eddies spun up in the Gulf);
currents extending from about 1,000 m through the deeper water column with little
depth variation (e.g., those believed to be associated with topographic Rossby waves),
sometimes with bottom intensification;
high-speed, subsurfaceintensified currents or jets; and
currents responsible for large, linear mega-furrows discovered along the base of the
continental slope in some locations of the northwestern Gulf.
From the standpoint of pollutant transport, numerical modeling discussed in Chapter 4

offers the possibility of increasingly accurate predictions. Predicting the fate of spills or
leaks from subsea pipelines, flowlines, and/or wellheads will require an understanding of
currents throughout the water column.
Oceanographic studies such as the Louisiana-Texas Shelf Physical Oceanography

Program (LATEX), the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico Physical Oceanography Program
(NEGOM), and GulfCet I and II have produced an understanding of the circulation
dynamics of the deepwater Gulf and its relationship to biological productivity. This
research has shown that the continental slope is characterized by a complex array of
cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies of varying time and length scales. These features have
substantial impacts on nutrient concentrations, plankton and micronekton communities,
and cetacean distribution (Davis et al. 2000).
329
Chemical Oceanography
In general, the chemistry of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico is not well studied (Chapter 5).
En many ways, the deep Gulf is buffered from the direct influence of coastal waters and
processes. This is reflected in the low levels of anthropogenie contaminants present in
the dissolved and particulate phases of the water column. However, oceanographic
mechanisms can transport low-salinity, nutrient-rich waters across the shelf and into the
deepwater environment. This has been shown to occur off the Mississippi River mouth,
for example, when a seaward-moving surface flow confluence is created by deepwater
cyclone-anticyclone circulation pairs (Chapter 6). Riverine input of dissolved and
particulate materials is important to the chemistry of the deepwater basin. Secondary
movement of materials downslope is an important process as well. The sparse
information on sediments in the area suggests that the benthic environment is mostly
unaffected by anthropogenic impacts. One important feature of the study area is the
widespread occurrence of natural seepage of oil, gas, and brines in near-surface
sediments and up through the water column. This unusual "natural background" of
hydrocarbons and other disturbances is important to consider when attempting to detect
impacts related to oil and gas exploration and production activities in the area.
Water Column Icosystems
Plankton
It has been known for years that both standing stocks arid productivity of plankton are
low seaward of the shelf-slope break in the Gulf of Mexico. Chapter 6 supports this
description of the mean condition but also shows that "hot spots" in primary production
occur whenlwhere nutrient availability is locally enhanced, even in deepwater. The
available evidence from the Gulf of Mexico indicates that deepwater "hot spots" that are
temporally persistent (even if spatially variable) have higher stocks of zooplankton and
micronekton.
The occunence of "hot spots" in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico is relevant not only to
plankton, but to fisheries and apex predators like marine mammals. The presence of
sizeable populations of apex predators in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico implies a reliable
supply of lower trophic level prey resources and suggests that underlying physical
processes allow "oases" of biological productivity to develop in the mostly oligotrophic
deepwater environment.
Chapter 6 shows that whenlwhere they occur over deepwater in the Gulf, anticyclonic
and cyclonic hydrographic features play an important role in determining biogeographic
patterns of and controlling secondary productivity. The potential enhancement of
fisheries productivity associated with the cyclones and the frontal zones of both types of
eddies is becoming better understood, now that these have been identified as deepwater
concentrating mechanisms for higher trophic levels and apex predators. Continued study
and assessment of zooplankton and nekton abundance within these mesoscale circulation
features is warranted, since these organisms ultimately serve as food stocks for higher
trophic levels.
330
Fishes and Fisheries
Taxonomically, the epipelagic and demersal fish assemblages are similar at the familial
and higher levels between shelf and deepwater environments (Chapter 10). Deepwater
mesopelagic and bathypelagic assemblages consist of phylogenetically older taxa that
have proliferated in the deep pelagic waters that are cold and devoid of light. Also the
species composition of the shelf fauna tends to be more geographically restricted than
deepwater faunas, which include many cosmopolitan species. One particular difference
in feeding mode between shelf and deepwater environments is the prevalence of filter
feeding in shelf species. In shelf waters, plankton filtering is an important feeding mode
that supports extremely productive stocks such as gulf menhaden. This mode of feeding
is not common in the deepwater environment.
An obvious difference in fish habitat types is the extensive occurrence of hard

bottonilreef habitat on the shelf. In Contrast, structured hard bottom habitats are rare in
the deepwater demersal environment. However, most sampling of the deepwater
demersal environment has been on featureless sedimentary bottoms amenable to trawl
gear.
The fishing and offshore energy industries have coexisted and developed amicably for
many years in shelf waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico. However, now that interest
has extended beyond the shelf and into deep waters (>300 m), the potential for conflicts
between differing technologies and fishing practices exists. All phases of the deepwater
offshore energy industrygeophysical surveys, exploratory drilling,
development/production, and abandonmentcould conflict with current deepwater
fishing practices. Current deepwater fishing practices in the northern Gulf of Mexico
include trapping for golden crab, trawling for royal red shrimp, bottom longlining for
groupers and tilefishes, and surface longlining for sharks and tunas. Of these gear types,
the pelagic longline presents the greatest possibility for interactions or space-use
conflicts.
Another concern with oil and gas activities in deepwater is the potential for interference
with migratory routes. Such interference could occur because surface structures and
attendant mooring lines will act as a fish attracting devices (FADs). The FAD effect
would be most pronounced for epipelagic fishes such as tunas, dolphin, billfishes, and
jacks (Chapter 10). The concern is that these highly migratory species would be diverted
from their normal migratory routes and, consequently, from traditional spawning or
feeding areas. Because of the highly migratory nature of many epipelagic species, these
effects could extend to the regional scale (hundreds of kilometers). At present, spawning
areas have been identified for the eastern Gulf of Mexico, but likely exist in the central
and western Gulf as well.
Eggs and larvae of many epipelagic and mesopelagic fishes are commonly found in the
surface waters of the deepwater Gulf. These ichthyoplankton could be exposed to
contaminants discharged from surface facilities, such as produced water and domestic
discharges. The potential for impacts from discharges or spills could be higher where
eggs and larvae are unusually concentrated, as may occur in association with certain
oceanographic features.
331
Cetaceans and Turtles
Cetacean species inhabiting continental shelf waters of the Gulf of Mexico are relatively
few in number (primarily bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins, and perhaps
Bryde's whales within certain areas of the outer shelf and shelf edge). In comparison, the
deepwater environment is inhabited by a relatively rich assemblage of up to 28 cetacean
species (Chapter 9). The assemblage includes resident population(s) of endangered
sperm whales and several cryptic" species (beaked whales, dwarf and pygmy sperm
whales) whose habits are poorly known due to their avoidance of aircraft and ships.
Therefore, a much greater number of cetacean species may come in contact with routine
oil and gas operations in deepwater.
Conversely, the majority of historical sea turtle sightings, in terms of both numbers of
species and numbers of individuals, have been recorded on the continental shelf.
Historically, deepwater sea turtle sightings have consisted primarily of adult leatherbacks,
with few loggerheads and Kemp's ridleys (to the shelf edge only) (Chapter 9). Offshore
waters of the Gulf (which may include outer continental shelf, slope, and abyssal waters)
may also serve as developmental habitat for hatchling and juvenile sea turtles of the five
Atlantic species, and may be used by all species as a transitory habitat.
The oceanographic processes of the continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico are
dominated by shallow water, wind-driven circulation and riverine outflow influences. In
comparison, the waters of the continental slope and abyss are enriched by the presence or
passage of dynamic mesoscale oceanographic features such as cold-core and warm-core
rings and eddies which originate fTom the Loop Current (Chapter 4). In addition, the
slope waters south of the Mississippi River mouth appear to be primarily influenced by
the volume of river outflow. The presence and persistence of these deepwater mesoscale
features may strongly influence the distributions of protected species (Davis et al. 2000).
In some respects, the spatial variability of these features makes a geographical
designation of cetacean habitat (e.g., preferred feeding areas) difficult because it may
move. On the other hand, knowledge of the position and persistence of these mesoscale
features, as well as the ability to detect and track them through remote sensing, may
provide a tool for mitigating some impacts of oil and gas operations in the deepwater
Gulf.
Potential impacts to protected species may change due to differences in operational or

logistical requirements for oil and gas operations in deepwater environments (Chapter 2).
For example, in cases where oil will be transported to shore by vessel, the increased
volume of vessel traffic may increase the chances for vessel collision with cetaceans
(especially deep-diving species which may spend greater periods of time resting on the
surface) or sea turtles. It is assumed that explosive structure removals, a concern for both
turtles and mammals, will not be needed in most deepwater operations. And in the event
of a deepwater oil spill, there is a much lower probability of the spilled oil reaching land
or sensitive coastal, or nearshore waters when compared to such operations on the
continental shelf
332
Phillips t al.: Synthsi.s
Benthic Ecosystems
Compared with continental shelf benthos, the continental slope has lower abundance and
biomass and higher diversity of soft bottom macrofauna and megafauna (Chapter 7). As
is the case on the shelf, the Eastern and Western Gulf differ in species composition due to
a difference in substrate (carbonate vs. terrigenous). Faunal diversity of the macrofauna
is high but it is not characterized by a middepth maximum (unlike some other ocean
basins). The low biomass of the macrofauna and megafauna suggest that the biota is food
limited. Budgets of carbon cycling on the slope suggest that most of the organic matter is
cycled through the smaller organisms of the communities (i.e., meiofauna and bacteria).
The state of knowledge concerning the deepwater benthos (other than seep communities)
has not kept up with understanding of processes in the water column ecosystem. In part,
this reflects the enormous expense of collecting and processing benthic samples from the
deep sea. Most benthic studies have been descriptive, focusing on abundance, biomass,
species composition, and zonation. While the GulfCet program has shown that
oceanographic mesoscale features strongly affect water colunm primary and secondary
productivity ("hot spots"), this understanding has not been extended to the benthos. It is
reasonable to suspect that where such "hot spots" persist spatially, benthic enrichment
may occur. Studies during GulfCet II showed these features can be persistent but
spatially variable. The implications for the deepwater benthos have not yet been
investigated. The MMS recently initiated the Northern Gulf of Mexico Continental Slope
Habitats and Benthic Ecology Study. One of the hypotheses being tested by the study is
whether benthic communities underlying persistent "hot spots" are different from those in
other areas.
On the continental shelf, topographic features have been of much interest to the MMS
from the standpoint of environmental protection due to the unusual biological
communities associated with some of these features (e.g., East and West Flower Garden
Banks). Compared with the continental shelf', the northern Gulf of Mexico continental
slope offers complex and rugged morphology including numerous submarine canyons
and salt structures. Due to the water depth, true reef communities such as those seen at
the Flower Garden Banks will not be present. However, there are some physiographic
features whose benthic communities are practically unknown, including the Sigsbee and
Campeche Escarpments. As additional information is obtained through MMS studies or
other research on the continental slope, new habitats and resources may be encountered,
arid the MMS will need to evaluate their need for protection from oil and gas operations.
Chemosynthetic communities are a distinctive and widespread feature of the deepwater

environment (Chapter 8). They are not found on the continental shelf. Dependence upon
seeping hydrocarbons places Gulf of Mexico chemosynthetic fauna in a locality that may
be affected by human activities. The amount of seafloor influenced by seepage is quite
small compared to the extent of the subbottom hydrocarbon system, and industry
engineers generally strive to avoid the unstable substrate at seeps. In addition, through a
Notice-to-Lessees (NTL 88-1 1), the MMS requires site-specific surveys for proposed
bottom disturbing activities in water depths greater than 400 m to evaluate the potential
for chemosynthetic communities. When such areas are identified, they are subsequently
333
protected from physical disturbance from anchors, pipelines, chains, and templates
(MMS 1997). Current interest lies in improving the capacity to predict where seep
communities will occur and in understanding processes that contribute to either stability
or change in this environment so that anthropogenic changes could be distinguished from
natural processes.
Data Gaps and Information Needs

Deepwater Technology
Many technical challenges have been discussed in Chapter 2. These include extending
the depth range of floating production systems; improving subsea production systems
including subsea pressure boosting and flow assurance; ensuring continuous flow of
unprocessed oil and gas from subsea wells through flowlines on the seafloor; and
constructing and maintaining increasingly long and heavy deepwater pipelines across the
rugged terrain of the continental slope.
Among the other technical challenges and needs, some of the more significant topics
include drilling wells in areas prone to shallow water flows, deepwater risers and
moorings, and geotechnical properties of the deep ocean bottom. Research and
development activities are underway, and future needs will continue to be addressed
through projects conducted and/or sponsored by individual companies, through joint
industry funded projects, and through broad industry sponsored programs such as
DeepStar and the Offshore Technology Research Center. Technology assessment and
research and development in support of deepwater development and regulations are also
being sponsored by the MMS through their Technology Assessment and Research
Program.
Geology
Previous geological studies and surveys of the continental slope and rise off Texas and
Louisiana were limited to regional scales. Detailed bathymetric maps cover diversified
geological areas and offer a blueprint for further studies. However, the spatial resolution
of present bathymetric maps is still limited to 25 m, 50 m, and 300 m, depending on the
data source. We need to fill the resolution gap as well as using other instruments, like
deep-towed seismic systems or Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (ALlY) platforms and
3-D seismic systems, to detail geological structures. There is also a need to incorporate
the old and new data into a database for intradisciplinary and inter-disciplinary studies.
The recent discovery of mega-furrows at the base of the Sigsbee Escarpment (described
in Chapter 3) is the first such observation for the Gulf of Mexico. It shows that, working
in very complex geological environments such as the continental slope and rise off Texas
and Louisiana, any increase in resolution of geophysical, geological and geotechnical
tools will increase the possibility of finding something new and totally unexpected. The
existence of mega-furrows in deepsea settings suggests that bottom currents exist in the
range of 1 to 100 cms' and higher, and they are inferred to be formed due tohelical
334
secondary circulation. The significance of these features is the high water velocities
necessary for their formation and the large amount of erosion occurring at the base of the
Sigsbee Escarpment. There are indications that a single massive abyssal storm may have
created the vast furrow field south of Green Knoll. The possible impact of such an event
on seafloor structures is beyond imagination. More detailed high resolution geophysical
deep-tow or AUV surveys and water current studies are needed to determine the nature,
timing, and magnitude of the forces that created the mega-furrows.
Physical Oceanography
Critical information is lacking regarding several topical areas of the physical
oceanography of the deepwater regions of the Gulf of Mexico. From the view of basic
science, we lack hard estimates for all terms in the salt (or freshwater) and heat budgets
for the Gulf of Mexico with error estimates. A closely related unknown is the renewal
rate (or residence time) of waters below the depths of sills connecting the Gulf with the
Caribbean Sea and open Atlantic. Recent model studies have addressed the latter issue,
but results must be confinned with observations. Closure of these information gaps is not
being addressed by known ongoing or planned studies.
Statistical information regarding energetic currents in the deep water Gulf is needed to
improve the safety, economy, and environmental integrity of deepwater petroleum
exploration and production. This will require a long-term program coupling sustained
observations with modeling. The information gaps remain large. During the past decade,
three new classes of deepwater Gulf currents have been described from direct
observations or from their effects: (1) topographic barotropic Rossby waves, (2) upper
ocean subsurface transient jets, and (3) bottom currents along the base of the Sigsbee
Escarpment. Some observational work is ongoing to address knowledge of the first of
these, and there is ongoing analysis of the second class based on existing observations.
The physics responsible for currents of classes (2) and (3) are not yet known. In fact, it is
not known if deep currents responsible for the mega-furrows along the Sigsbee
Escarpment occur at present or if the furrows result from an energetic current event in the
geologic past. It seems likely that oil and gas companies will explore the causes of these
mega-furrows. The MMS has plans to support a measurement program to better describe
and understand currents of the first two classes as well as surface-intensified currents
(e.g., those due to Loop Current Eddies or cyclonic eddies). However, it is unlikely that
these programs will be of sufficient duration to characterize statistically the energetic
currents of the deep water Gulf of Mexico.
Although the currents and water properties have been studied in the vicinity of the broad
De Soto Canyon, there have been no detailed studies of the effect of the narrower
Mississippi Canyon on the circulation over the upper slope and outer shelf; modeling
studies, however, suggest that Mississippi Canyon may generate eddies and upwelling in
the region and may cause a branching of flows.
335
Chemical Oceanography
The input of non-photosynthetic carbon (i.e., from seeps) is an unknown in any

ecological model of the deepsea Gulf of Mexico. The exact areal extent and amount of
seepage are not well known. A better understanding of the distribution of this potential
nutrient and toxin in the deep sea is needed.
The vertical transport of contaminants through long water colunms is not well understood
and should be studied to determine if the contaminants would ever make it to the
seafloor. Obviously, there is also concern about subsea oil spills and their fate and
effects. The presence of gas hydrates may affect how hydrocarbons from a blowout at
the seafloor would be distributed in the deepsea environment, including enhancing their
persistence by sequestration. (At many sites on the slope where thermogenic gas hydrate
exists, it releases globules of oil on decomposition.) The innate ability of benthos to cope
with hydrocarbon exposure is not known, and the rate of microbial oxidation would be
expected to be retarded in the high-pressure and cold environment. In pristine areas,
populations of indigenous hydrocarbon-oxidizing bacteria would be expected to be low.
Although most studies of contaminants in the Gulf of Mexico have been restricted to
shelf and coastal areas, no appreciable levels of hydrocarbons or metals have so far been
detected in the water colunm or sediments of the deepwater environment (with the
obvious exception of seep areas). While there is always a need for broad surveys of
contaminant loadings in relatively unknown environments, such a survey in the
deepwater Gulf would probably produce mostly zeros and not be very rewarding.
Water Column Biology

More is known about the biology of the water column of the continental shelf than of the
biology of the water overlying the deeper regions of the northern Gulf of Mexico.
Because oil and gas exploration and production activity has been in place over the shelf
for some time, there have been many environmental impact studies and ecological
assessments of biological systems on the shelf. Now that oil and gas exploration and
production is moving into increasingly deeper water, it seems timely to consider how
deepwater and shelf regimes interact.
As emphasized in Chapter 6, the interaction of freshwater on the shelf with circulation

regimes over the outer shelf and slope is a key mechanism that can produce "hot spots" of
biological production in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Another key mechanism, also
mentioned in Chapter 6, is the doming of nutrients within the cyclonic slope eddies and
within the high current velocity shear zones that surround these cyclones and the
anticyclonic eddies. An improved understanding is required of the influence of these
inesoscale oceanographic features on deepwater zooplankton, micronekton, and
ichthyoplankton. Finally, Chapter 6 provides an extensive list of taxonomic studies,
which we believe are important to the interpretation of biological standing stock and
productivity data (see Cady and Wormuth 2000). Further taxonomic analysis of recent
GulfCet II Multiple Opening/Closing Net Enviromiiental Sensing System (MOCNESS)
and Isaacs-Kidd midwater trawl data, for example, would lead to an improved
336
understanding of the biomass patterns revealed by net and acoustic sampling of

mesoscale cyclones and anticyclones in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico.
Future studies should use a combination of acoustical, optical, and net sampling for
biological surveys (for example, see Ressler 2000 and Remson and Hopkins 2000), in
order to understand the scales of variability in zooplanktonlmicronektonl ichthyoplankton
biomass. Post-cruise work should include the analysis of archival data (SEAMAP) as
well as of data gathered using newer time series monitoring techniques (i.e., volume
backscattering data from Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler moorings; see Scott et al.
2000).
We still have more "biomass" than "productivity" data. It would be useful to explore
whether the "hot spots" we describe are always areas of higher than average primary
production as well as elevated standing stock biomass (which would improve our
functional understanding of these systems). We certainly need additional primary
production measurements within these features, especially in the central and eastern
deepwater Gulf of Mexico (see Chapter 6, Figure 6.1).
Benthic Communities
Oceanographic programs such as LATEX, NEGOM, and GulfCet I and II have produced
an abundance of information about the deepwater circulation in Gulf and its relationship
to primary and secondary productivity in the water column. This level of understanding
has not been extended to the benthic environment. Information on deepwater benthic
communities consists primarily of descriptive studies focusing on abundance, biomass,
and zonation. Process-oriented studies and linkages to water column are have not been
emphasized.
This situation is currently being addressed by the MMS through its recently initiated
Northern Gulf of Mexico Continental Slope Habitats and Benthic Ecology Study. In
addition to standard sampling for community structure, the study includes process
measurements of community metabolism, meiofaunal feeding rate, sediment community
oxygen demand, and foodweb studies using stable isotopes. One of the hypotheses being
tested by the study is whether or not benthic communities underlying persistent water
column "hot spots" are different from those in otherwise similar areas.
Protected Species
The GulfCet I and II programs represent the most current research for marine mammals
and sea turtles in the oceanic Gulf of Mexico. Future research needs are discussed in
some detail in Davis et al. (2000). These include collecting additional information on
environmental variables that influence the distributions of continental shelf and shelf
edge cetacean species, such as bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins, and
possibly Bryde' s whales; collecting additional data on daily movement patterns and
feeding behavior of cetaceans in association with mesoscale hydrographic features to
determine relationships between physical and biological processes and their influences on
the distributions of cetaceans. Also recommended were additional studies on the
337
population structure, seasonal movements, and behavior of sperm whales in the Gulf of
Mexico to ascertain the importance of lower slope water habitat south of the Mississippi
River mouth. A survey of the entire Gulf was recommended to improve the level of
understanding of the seasonal and annual distribution, abundance, and habitat
associations of cetaceans utilizing simultaneous satellite and conventional radio tracking
methods, and photo-identification of predominant species (e.g., pantropical spotted
dolphins and sperm whales).
Effects of noise from oil and gas operations are a prime subject for future research. To
date, concern has centered on geophysical surveys, which are widespread in the Gulf and
employ a variety of technologies. Davis et al. (2000) recommended conducting a
systematic study of human acoustic perturbations on the large-scale distribution of local
cetacean populations, including small-scale behavioral changes in addition to
distribution. This would include behavioral monitoring and in situ behavioral
experiments on the short-term and long-term effects of seismic and other loud industrial
sounds on the behavior and distribution of Gulf cetaceans.
Fishes and Fisheries
One of the important issues raised during the Deepwater Workshop (Camey 1998) was
the potential for space-use conflicts between deepwater fisheries and oil and gas
operations. The pelagic longline presents the greatest possibility for interactions or
space-use conflicts. There have been interactions reported that involved pelagic longlines
and drilling rigs in the Gulf. Recognizing this problem, MMS recently (October 1999)
initiated a contract study to investigate the potential problems between the deepwater
fishing and energy industries. Mappable and descriptive information on the fishing and
energy industries from the Gulf of Mexico is being gathered and synthesized in order to
develop proactive management approach that will allow MMS to avoid or lessen the
severity of space-use problems (Snyder et al. 1999). To further support the findings for
the Gulf of Mexico records of conflicts from other U.S. and international waters where
the two industries overlap are being analyzed.
Socioeconomics
Increasing deepwater development poses social and economic challenges for individuals
and communities along the Gulf of Mexico. Socioeconomic research needs continue to
be similar to those noted in the Deepwater Workshop (Carney 1998). The top priority
identified in that workshop was a large scale industry and labor force analysis, which
would include collection of data on infrastructure and community capacity. Industrial
labor surveys would provide information on industry strategies and behavior. Research
on vertical and horizontal integration among oil and gas operations would be instrumental
in assessing labor demand, an important issue associated with socioeconomic
implications of deepwater development. Community capacity evaluations and resource
assessments are necessary to mitigate potential problems that will come with expanded
deepwater oil and gas activities. Determining infrastructural capabilities of communities
and their subsequent potential for growth and sustainability would benefit not only
communities, but industry as well.
338
Phillips &t al.: Synthesis
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Hays, P. and J. Ray. 1998. Industry perspective, pp. 4-5. In: R.S. Carney (ed.), Workshop on
environmental issues surrounding deepwater oil and gas development: Final report. OCS
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offshore petroleum platforms on sea turtles and dolphins. Mar. Fish. Rev. 50(3):33-42.
LGL Ecological Research Associates, Inc. and Science Applications International Corporation.
1998. Cumulative ecological significance of oil and gas structures in the Gulf of Mexico:
Information search, synthesis, and ecological modeling; Phase I, Final report. OCS
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178, and 182, central planning area. Final environmental impact statement. OCS
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Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, New Orleans, LA.
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National Academy Press, Washington, DC. 76 pp.
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pp. 469-53 8. In; D.F. Boesch and N.N. Rabalais (eds.). Long-Term Environmental
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The Department of the Interior Mission
As the Nation's principal conservation agency, the Department of the Interior has responsibility for
most of our nationally owned public lands and natural resources. This includes fostering sound use of
our land and water resources; protecting our fish, wildlife, and biological diversity; preserving the
environmental and cultural values of our national parks and historical places; and providing for the
enjoyment of life through outdoor recreation. The Department assesses our energy and mineral
resources and works to ensure that their development is in the best interests of all our people by
encouraging stewardship and citizen participation in their care. The Department also has a major
responsibility for American Indian reservation communities and for people who live in island territories
under U.S. administration.
The Minerals Management Service Mission

As a bureau of the Department of the Interior, the Minerals Management Service's (MMS) primary
responsibilities are to manage the mineral resources located on the Nations Outer Continental Shelf
(OCS), collect revenue from the Federal OCS and onshore Federal and Indian lands, and distribute
those revenues.
Moreover, in working to meet its responsibilities, the Offshore Minerals Management Program
administers the OCS competitive leasing program and oversees the safe and environmentally sound
exploration and production of our Nation's offshore natural gas, oil and other mineral resources. The
MMS Royalty Management Program meets its responsibilities by ensuring the efficient, timely and
accurate collection and disbursement of revenue from mineral leasing and production due to Indian
tribes and allottees, States and the U.S. Treasury.
The MMS strives to fulfill its responsibilities through the general guiding principles of: (1) being
responsive to the public's concerns and interests by maintaining a dialogue with all potentially affected
parties and (2) carrying out its programs with an emphasis on working to enhance the quality of life for
all Americans by lending MMS assistance and expertise to economic development and environmental
protection.

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OCS Study

Deepwater Gulf of Mexico

Mississippi Alabama Georgia

U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone

U.S. DeDartment of the Interior

Deepwater Gulf of Mexico

Volume I: Narrative Report

Continental Shelf Associates, Inc.

Prepared under MMS contract

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Department of the Interior

Telephone: (504) 736-2519 or

E.G. Ward1 Deepwater Technology

William R. Bryant1 and Jia Y. Liu' Geology

Worth D. Nowlin', Ann E. Jochens', Steven F. DiMarco',

Mahion C. Kennicutt II' Chemical Oceanography

Douglas C. Biggs' and Patrick H. Ressler' Water Column Biology

Gilbert T. Rowe' Non-Seep Benthos

Ian R. MacDonald1 Seep Communities

Stephen T. Viada2 Protected Species

David B. Snyder2 Fishes and Fisheries

Linda A. Tobin3 Socioeconomics

'Texas A&M University

Volume I: Narrative Report

Chapter 2: Deepwater Technology 5

Chapter 4: Physical Oceanography 61

Chapter 5: Chemical Oceanography 123

Chapter 6: Water Column Biology 141

Chapter 7: Non-Seep Benthos 189

Chapter 8: Seep Communities 209

Chapter 9: Protected Species 231

Chapter 10: Fishes and Fisheries 255

Chapter 11: Socioeconomics 285

Chapter 12: Synthesis 321

Volume II: Annotated Bibliography

1.1 Deepwater study area 3

2.1 Deepwater production in the Gulf of Mexico (thousands of barrels

2.2 Deepwater production systems in the Gulf of Mexico 7

2.3 Schematic showing major components of a TLP 12

2.4 Schematic showing major components of a spar 12

2.5 Subsea production system configuration 14

2.6 Subsea production system components 14

2.7 Schematic of tanker-based FPSO offloading to a shuttle tanker 18

3.1 Bathymetric map of the northern Gulf of Mexico deepwater area 27

3.5 Seismic line across the Sigsbee Escarpment (Adapted from:

3.6 Bathymetry derived drainage patterns in the northern Gulf of Mexico

3.7 The location of depocenters through Cenozoic in the northern Gulf

3.9 Bathymetric contour map of the Pigmy Basin 45

3.11 Bathymetric contour map of the Vaca Basin 48

4.4 Annual time series of monthly averaged temperatures at six depths

4.5 Contours of mean dynamic height (dyn cm) of surface relative to

4.6 Horizontal current vectors (hourly values from 3-hr low-passed

4.7 Locations of current measurements or model output used in figures

4.8 Components (u positive to the east and v positive to the north) of

4.9 Eastward (u) and northward (v) components of currents (hourly

4.10 Eastward (u) and northward (v) components of currents from 3- to

4.11 (a) An example of the development of an intrusion of the Loop

4.12 GEK surface current observations (left) and surface dynamic

4.14 Components of velocity (cIms') normal to a section extending from

4.15 Components (u positive to the east and v positive to the north) of

4.16 Horizontal current vectors (hourly values from 3-hr low-passed

4.17 Schematic showing design currents in deepwater Gulf of Mexico for

4.18 Current vectors (40-hr low-passed; north directed upward) from